Jordy Hiwula and Doncaster Rovers ready to dig deep to kickstart their season

The message ahead of Tuesday’s Papa John’s Trophy derby with Rotherham United was ‘the season starts here’ and it certainly did for the striker, who finally made his debut following his close-season move after recovering from an ankle injury.

Unfortunately, Rovers’ wretched early-season form continued with a sobering 6-0 loss to the rampant Millers, who registered their biggest-ever win over Doncaster, 10 days on from another comprehensive victory in the league.

With key personnel sidelined, Rovers – without a goal in seven games in all competitions and propping up League One – must continue to do it tough in September and somehow find the character to pull through, with fight as opposed to finesse taking primary importance.

Hiwula said: “We just need to get together now and pull through. This is a difficult patch for us and we have had some really difficult games in the past few weeks against big teams. We need to stick together.

“Tuesday was not the best performance, to be fair. We let some easy goals in and something has to click now.

“It has been very frustrating for me because I wanted to come in and hit the ground running. Unfortunately, I got a little injury, but I have put that behind me.

“It has been difficult as I’ve been pretty much at every game home and away and travelling with the team and watching the games and trying to give them as much support as possible.”

While the sight of Hiwula, Joe Dodoo and deadline-day signing Rodrigo Vilca lining up together in attack for the first time pointed to a chink of light in terms renewed options up front, the injury situation further back is a cause for increased concern.

With Tom Anderson and Cameron John sidelined, the news that Kyle Knowle is still struggling is another untimely development. Ben Blythe was also unavailable on Tuesday, while in midfield, Ben Close is managing a slight thigh issue and Aidan Barlow is currently missing with a hamstring strain.

Richie Wellens said: “We have suffered with injuries and the difficult games that have come.

“We are getting to the stage now where we have to dig in for and then hopefully Tom Anderson, Cameron John and (Jon) Taylor will be back and the others are up to fitness and the front three (from Tuesday) will be up to speed.”