How Doncaster Rovers fared in Grant McCann's latest 'mini-league' – and what it says about Bradford City and Harrogate Town

How McCann inspired them from 20th in League Two in February to a penalty shoot-out from the play-off final was one of the stories of 2024.

He told his players he was resetting the league table: they had to win his 18-match mini-league.

They did, by a distance.

So it was no surprise he resorted to the tactic in December, but this time for just six games, including three against promotion rivals Wimbledon, Walsall and Port Vale.

"I thought this was the right time to give the boys something to go for," he said. "If we can finish top of the six-game table over Christmas and January we'll be top of the league."

What could have been the spur for inconsistent Doncaster laid bare their failings, finishing 11th with just seven points from six matches.

Their form contrasted with the extremes elsewhere in Yorkshire.

Rovers lost to all three promotion rivals, and even if McCann felt the last loss – to a Port Vale team whose own form had collapsed – was unjust on the balance of play, the goals conceded pointed to problems.

"The first goal is really disappointing,” reflected McCann. “We just jog back into the box and don't pick up. At least for the second Brandon (Fleming) recovered. Hursty (Kyle Hurst) could do better with the run, perhaps, but we have to pick up the run from (Lorent) Tolaj."

One of the two wins, over Fleetwood Town, needed Billy Sharp’s added-time goal.

Doncaster dropped from the final automatic to the last play-off place, although they are only two points behind second-placed Crewe Alexandra, who have played a game fewer.

League Two since December 12

They already planned to be active in the transfer market, introducing forward Rob Street against Vale, but the title wannabes could not string three straight league wins together in the first half of the season.

“I do believe wholeheartedly in this group,” insisted McCann. “We just let ourselves down (on Saturday), all of us.”

Boiling the table down to six games tells very different stories about Bradford City and Harrogate Town.

The Bantams have slid a place behind Doncaster after a run bettered only by 100 per centers Salford City and Walsall.

Take out the 3-0 defeat at Notts County, and they won 13 points from the other 15 available, all the more impressive because Andy Cook's knee injury at Barrow could have been such a psychological blow.

With Antoni Sarcevic fit again – which seemed to end Corry Evans' time at Valley Parade – and George Lapsile and Brandon Khela signed, they feel upwardly mobile.

Sadly, the same is not true of Harrogate, whose four points was the joint-worst return.

It was poorer still before they won 2-0 at Barrow, where Bryn Morris made an assured debut. With money banked from two televised FA Cup ties and a third at Elland Road on Saturday, there should be more debuts to come.

Like Doncaster, they need a second wind after a change of scenery for this weekend’s FA Cup ties.