Doncaster Rovers v Mansfield: Focus now on FA Cup as Rovers urged ‘to lose the fear’

So it was the case at Doncaster Rovers yesterday as, barely 24 hours after Richie Wellens’s sudden dismissal, caretaker manager Gary McSheffrey and veteran striker Tommy Rowe faced the press ahead of today’s FA Cup second-round clash with Mansfield Town.

Understandably, there were not many questions asked about their League Two opponents who arrive at the Keepmoat Stadium looking to cause an upset and capitalise on Rovers’ current state of flux.

The discussion was more around Wellens’s exit, just six months after taking charge of the South Yorkshire club where he twice served as a player, and how Doncaster get out of their rut.

Admittedly, their form – or lack of it – had been worrying given they had won just three of their 19 League One games so far.

Nevertheless, few expected the club’s board – who hope to make a new appointment within a fortnight – to make a change so early.

For now, McSheffrey, the former Coventry City and Leeds United winger who played for Doncaster towards the latter end of his career and is now their Under-18s coach, is in charge of trying to glean something positive from a squad that is bereft of confidence and has been decimated by injuries.

Wednesday’s Papa John’s Trophy loss at Crewe Alexandra, on the back of successive league defeats, had spelled the end for Wellens.

What can McSheffrey, 39, change in the immediacy given he is not expected to have any fresh troops for this afternoon’s tie?

“I’ve just reminded the players that they’ve come this far in their life and they’re first-team football players at a League One club,” he said.

“You don’t become a bad player overnight, you just lose your confidence.

“When you lose your confidence you need an arm around the shoulder at times. Some individuals are stronger than others.

“The message is ‘can we go and play with the shackles off a little bit?’.

“Lose the fear, lose the fear of making mistakes, because ultimately there’s bigger problems in the world than making a mistake on the football pitch.

“I want to try and simplify their thinking a little bit because they wouldn’t be here if they were poor players.”

Doncaster do have a young squad and McSheffrey knows how fragile some of the players could be with the side in such dire staits on the field.

With that in mind, he will not be reinventing the wheel today.

That said, he is keen to make his own mark on the squad and has an idea of how that can be done.

“I definitely think there’s players that can play in more effective positions,” said McSheffrey, who admitted Omar Bogle and Ed Williams – left out completely by Wellens – will be back in the fray once they have built up their fitness.

“So we will make a couple of tweaks. We won’t give too much away.

“There’ll be some changes in the tactics and the shape of the team.”

He added: “It’s about getting a smile back on their faces, getting them fighting and running around for the shirt and sprinting a little bit more.

“A bit more aggression in the pressing and can you handle the football under pressure?

“I’ve told them to embrace the pressure of being a footballer that’s expected to win more games than they are at the minute.

“It’s changing the mindset and trying to get them confident again.”

It seems unlikely McSheffrey will be putting himself up for consideration for the job on a permanent basis, even if results do turn in Doncaster’s favour while he is in charge.

“I’ve never really thought about that to be honest,” he said.

“All I know is as soon as you step up to first-team level you’re out of the door quicker.

“The academy is going in the right direction and I like where I live!

“So it’s not one I’ll be chasing but if we have a really good turnaround it’s probably one that’s going to be difficult to turn down.

“My aim is to try and pass to the new manager a squad that’s up for the challenge and got a bit of confidence back.”

And also, as Mansfield will be aware, a squad that’s in the third round of the FA Cup.