Saunders left fuming by lack of steel as Doncaster capitulate

Doncaster manager Dean Saunders lamented his side’s lack of resilience as Portsmouth brushed them aside at Fratton Park.

Luke Varney fired Pompey in front after just three minutes when he raced on to a huge clearance by goalkeeper Stephen Henderson and coolly slotted home.

The lively Simon Gillett levelled for Doncaster after 27 minutes when John Oster’s corner found him on the edge of the area and he lashed a stunning drive into the bottom corner.

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Rovers ended the first half on top, but Pompey well and truly took charge after the interval.

Their pressure was rewarded after 68 minutes when Dave Kitson nodded home David Norris’s goal-bound header from point-blank range to put Pompey in charge.

The men in blue sealed it when Kitson’s through-ball found Erik Huseklepp, who squared for Varney to score his second.

After seeing his side end the first half so positively, Saunders was fuming to see Portsmouth dominate so easily after the break.

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He said: “When you’ve got to resist, which you have to do away from home, you’ve got to be able to stand up to it.

“We’ve got lots of players who are good with the ball, but we haven’t got enough who are good without it; players who can do all the donkey jobs and enjoy it.

“It’s about players having the desire and intelligence to pick people up in the box, winning headers and winning second balls.

“In the first half, we stopped the supply coming in. In the second half, they put too many balls in. Their players got bigger and bigger as the game went on.”

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The result left Rovers second from bottom and Saunders hinted he is ready to make changes unless his side show more steel.

Portsmouth: Henderson, Halford, Rocha, Pearce, Ben-Haim, Lawrence, Mullins, Norris, Huseklepp (Ward 87), Kitson (Futacs 87), Varney. Unused substitutes: Ashdown, Mokoena, Kanu.

Doncaster Rovers: Sullivan, Chimbonda, Friend, Hird, Ilunga, Stock, Gillett, Oster (Parkin 77), Barnes (Coppinger 84), Sharp, Bennett (Hayter 76). Unused substitutes: Maxted, Naylor.

Referee: F Graham (Essex).

Man of the match: Dave Kitson.