Doncaster Rovers v Wigan: ‘I don’t want our lads to be outrun’ says Gary McSheffrey

He has already seen enough evidence of Rovers’ mental fragility since taking over what many would view as a bit of a thankless task to try and pull them away from the relegation zone, but there is something that he is adamant that the players can do something about and change overnight.

Namely their physical output, with McSheffrey having stripped things back in that regard this week in training.

Not being outrun is the starting point to any sort of response from a team who are doing it tough and on a wretched run and it is something that McSheffrey duly recognises.

Hopefully, there will be a response in that regard today.

He said: “I have said to the boys that to win games in this league, you need to be collectively running the 114 or 115 kilometres as a group, which we did against Shrewsbury and Oxford, where we nearly got a draw.

“When we dip to the 106 or 107km collectively, you are not running around enough or competing enough and teams are fitter, stronger and can run all over you a little bit.

“I don’t want our lads to be outrun. I realise some are coming back from injuries and have been thrown in a little bit earlier than they should if we have the numbers. But ultimately we need to be up to the levels of fitness sprints and repeated sprints that are required to win games.

“If you are fit, your body language, application and desire might look better.”

Today’s game is the start of a daunting run of fixtures which sees Rovers face several of the division’s big-hitters and while few supporters will be putting their mortgage on a healthy return of victories, McSheffrey – for his part – wants to see renewed fight, energy and resilience at the very least.

He added: “You try and get the team to be in the best possible shape and be hard to beat, resilient and compact and then you hope you can do something from set-plays and counter-attacks and in possession.

“We cannot fear it or think negatively. Sometimes, in these run of games, you can get the shock results.”