Keeping calm at Keepmoat in spite of bleak run

With only one point from the first seven games, Rovers are already four points adrift of safety at the bottom of the Championship table.

Manager Sean O’Driscoll is under growing pressure from a section of the club’s supporters yet Ryan is confident that things will soon improve.

“My message to the Rovers supporters is ‘don’t panic’ – because I certainly won’t be,” Ryan told the Yorkshire Post last night. “When we get our top players back from injury, I think we will see a very considerable improvement in our results.”

Rovers, who will equal a club record of 20 consecutive league games without a win if they fail to beat Crystal Palace this weekend, had nine senior players missing due to injuries at Reading last weekend.

There was good news, however, in the shape of defender Shelton Martis making his first appearance of the season and captain Brian Stock making a late appearance as substitute after managing only four minutes of first-team football in the previous four months.

On-loan midfielder Ryan Mason could also come back into contention this weekend and star striker Billy Sharp has started running again after suffering a serious ankle injury at Brighton on the opening day.

“If they were not at the club yet and we were signing three players – Brian Stock, Ryan Mason, and Billy Sharp – in the next couple of weeks our supporters would be very excited,” said Ryan.

“It will suddenly be a very different Doncaster Rovers out on that pitch when they return and that’s why I am optimistic.

“Don’t forget that Burnley had to wait five games for a win in the season they won promotion to the Premier League,” he reflected. “And Blackpool had only one win from the first 11 when they went up from League One. Anything is possible!”

O’Driscoll refuses to blame injuries for his side’s current dip in form and feels it is now down to those who are available to take greater responsibility on the field.

“We are seeing if we can rise to the challenge rather than moaning or groaning about it,” said O’Driscoll. “We have tried not to blame injuries or this and that but we have said ‘this is what we’ve got, let’s try and get a performance’.”

O’Driscoll was far from happy, however, with his side’s performance in the 2-0 defeat at Reading at the weekend.

“We made too many mistakes and, if you do that in this division, you invariably get punished,” he said.

“It’s got worse and there have now been too many games where people are continuing to make mistakes and poor decisions.”

His decision to axe promising full-back Mustapha Dumbuya was a major shock considering the club’s injury woes but O’Driscoll defended the move saying: “You have got to learn to take responsibility and, for all the good things he does, he fails to take responsibility – so we can’t play him.”

O’Driscoll was holding talks with Chelsea yesterday about the possible extension of striker Milan Lalkovic’s loan deal.

The Slovakian, who is only 18, has made four appearances for Rovers during his initial one-month stay and O’Driscoll is keen to retain his services.

“It’s a difficult situation for a loan player to come into but, in terms of his personality and what he brings to the team, he has been first-class,” said O’Driscoll.

“He would like to have played more games but he has been involved in every game that he has been available for.

“We would like to keep him but it’s got to be right for Milan and for Chelsea, too. His character and personality are big pluses and you want as many of those people around as you can get.”

In relation to striker Sharp’s progress, O’Driscoll stressed that the next couple of weeks are going to be crucial in determining the speed of his return to the side.

“He’s got the go-ahead to begin running in straight lines but if it (the ankle) moves, he’s going to need to be pinned.

“We have got to be careful. If we don’t do it properly, we will have further problems. He’s going to be another month at least.”

Midfielder Mason, 20, had returned to Rovers for his second spell on loan from Tottenham Hotspur but damaged ankle ligaments in the first week of the season against Tranmere Rovers.

“We waited all summer to sign Ryan so losing him was a blow,” said O’Driscoll. “He was one of those midfielders who looked like they could get double figures in goals and we didn’t have a replacement. We hope he can play some part in training this week.”

O’Driscoll has confirmed that former Leeds and Rotherham midfield player Martin Woods may have a ‘career-threatening’ hip injury.

Woods, 25, has played only one game in the last 11 months and is still nowhere near a return to first team action.

He has undergone two hip operations but is still complaining of groin pain and will be visiting a specialist again this week.

“Every injury that goes on for this amount of time is career-threatening,” he admitted.

“We have to treat it as a career-threatening injury because we have a duty of care to the player. We can stick him in, push him, or jab it – but at his age we would be doing him a disservice.

“We are trying to make sure that he plays well into his 30s rather than play for the next two seasons.”