Sharp’s brace against Rovers is both lauded and lamented

Sharp scored twice against his former club to strengthen the hosts’ position at the top of the Championship table.

But Adkins’s opposite number Dean Saunders felt the biggest influence came from referee Danny McDermid.

“The ref cost us the game,” he said. “He gave them a corner which was never a corner. They scored from the corner.

“It was a mistake for the second goal.

“It’s disappointing we lost points against a top of the league side.

“I think it’s typical we sold Sharp to Southampton and then he scores two goals against us. He came back to haunt us.”

Lambert, who has 28 goals to his name this term, was forced off early in the second half with a minor knock, joining fellow strikers Guly and Tadanari Lee on the treatment table. But Adkins has full confidence in Sharp to fill the void. The Saints boss said: “Billy Sharp has scored two really good goals for us and it’s a great three points to cap off a very good week.

“It was in the tea leaves (for Sharp to score). He’s worked very, very hard behind the scenes. Since he’s joined us, his attitude has been top drawer.

“And the big thing is, here we’re not just relying on one person to score the goals.

“It’s 72 league goals we’ve scored now. We’ve got some exceptionally good goalscorers and strikers here. He (Sharp) has got a proven record in the Championship.

“I’d like to think that we’ve brought him to a football club that’s got a really good development culture, a good environment.

“The burden to score goals isn’t just on one individual player.

“Rickie Lambert is leading the goalscoring charts, but it underlines that it’s not just about one player.”

Sharp, who joined the Saints in the January transfer window for a fee in the region of £2m, broke the deadlock shortly before the hour with a header from Dan Fox’s inviting corner.

He then put the game to bed by capitalising on some poor defending from Habib Beye before firing past Carl Ikeme with 15 minutes to go. The defeat to the division’s leaders leaves Doncaster just one point off the bottom of the Championship table and five points from safety.

Southampton: Davis, Butterfield, Fonte, Hooiveld, Fox, De Ridder (Barnard 67), Schneiderlin, Cork, Lallana (Hammond 78), Sharp, Lambert (Chaplow 49). Unused substitutes: Harding, Martin.

Doncaster Rovers: Ikeme, Chimbonda, Beye, Lockwood, Ilunga, Coppinger (Bennett 65), Gillett, Barnes (Brown 79), Oster (Robert 90), Diouf, Piquionne. Unused substitutes: Bagayoko, Friend.

Referee: Danny McDermid (Hampshire). Man of the match: Billy Sharp.