Swindon Town v Doncaster Rovers: Grant McCann makes Liverpool comparison as healthier squad helps him turn tide

With each passing week, he would sit down for media duties and barely mask his frustration as he reeled off the list of absentees.

Doncaster are now on the home stretch, 10 games away from the end of what has been a gruelling campaign, and are a different beast.

The treatment room has become a quieter place and form has improved, leaving fans wondering what could have been had the injury curse been lifted earlier.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s trip to Swindon Town, McCann said: “I think the difference in the last eight or nine games or so is that we've managed to keep a consistent sort of level of player available.

"We worked all pre-season in our style and our shape and things like that, when you miss your four full-backs in your second or third game and you have to change shape, it’s not ideal.

"We've worked with a three before anyway at Hull and at Peterborough but it's not ideal. It's almost like you're ripping your plans up three games in to start again - hence the slow start.”

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Fixture list congestion in recent years has sparked conversations at all levels of football about the protection of players.

It is a conversation that dominates terraces almost as much as referee scrutiny but McCann believes some have it worse than others.

He said: “Think back to five or six years ago, when Liverpool were missing Salah and I think it was Firmino, and how much Jurgen Klopp talked about how much he was missing his best players. I'm thinking 'come and have a look at Doncaster Rovers when we've got 15 or 16 sitting in there, and some big, big players for us'.

"You don't realise how important it is to have people fit. I know people might say 'well, you should have a squad'. We do have a squad but it's not nice seeing 15 or 16 players in the treatment room all the time.

“We've managed to keep people fit and available for selection, which has in turn, helped our results.”