After a short and difficult 68-day spell at Huddersfield Town following his promotion to head coach, Schofield now finds himself in charge at his hometown club, where the mood music has also not always been harmonious either.

Tipped to be among the promotion contenders, Rovers' form has been patchy with fans letting their feelings known in the club’s poor Boxing Day loss at Tranmere Rovers.

One of the players booed in Tom Anderson received a few follow-up jeers from a section of Doncaster followers - alongside support from others - in Thursday's dramatic win over Rochdale. He delivered the final act with the winning goal.

It is plainly a time when Schofield, still a relatively young man, and his players must stay mentally strong. He is made of the right stuff and he insists his squad are as well.

He added: "The character of these players cannot be questioned. I have been in football a long time and first and foremost, these are fantastic human beings and it's a joy to work with them every day.

"They give everything and are very engaged and are fighting for the football club and that's all we can ask.

"The lads have strong characters to drive each other on and support and encourage each other."

Staying strong is one thing, but positivity from all and sundry certainly helps in the process as well.

Schofield continued: "Negativity is never good and I don't think anything has been achieved with a negative environment or attitude. We speak constantly with the players and staff about positivity and how positive we need to be every single day.

“We need that from every aspect of the football club whether that's supporters, staff, owners, coaches, payers - the girls who work in the kitchen. We need that energy or it does become a real challenge and it's something that myself and James Coppinger speak about daily and try and create."

Last six games: Doncaster WLLWLW; Carlisle WLDLWW.

Referee: B Speedie (Merseyside).

Last time: Doncaster 2 Carlisle 2, September 27, 2016; League Two.

Doncaster Rovers v Carlisle: Danny Schofield in plea to supporters - and makes a promise