'Wrong side of big decisions': Michael Duff laments Huddersfield Town Trophy loss + Doncaster Rovers reaction

Town were behind at the break, thanks to Ephraim Yeboah’s first senior goal in professional football, but equalised early in the second half through Danny Ward.

Ward, who was available for the game with his league dismissal at the weekend not counting in this particular competition, netted following a polished Town move.

But it was Rovers who produced the decisive moment after that from the penalty spot eight minutes from time when Ben Wiles was penalised for a foul on Jack Senior.

Duff, whose side had already conceded spot-kicks this season in games against Rotherham United and Stevenage, viewed the decision as harsh and also felt that the visitors should have been awarded a late decision themselves.

Duff, who handed debuts to teenagers Dan Vost and Cam Ashia and Peter Thomas, 20, said: “You have to take the positives out of these sorts of games.

"There were three or four young lads coming into the group and we got good minutes into people and Turts (Ollie Turton) and Ruffs (Josh Ruffels) have not had a lot of football at all and Chappy (Jaconb Chapman) got more minutes.

"I don’t think Chappy has had a save to make in the game, if I am brutally honest.

"We’ve conceded four goals in five or six games now and three have been dodgy penalties. That’s something we have to live with and we didn’t get one which I think was more of a penalty than the one that was given.

"But in terms of general play, the attitude was good and we’ve just got to be a little bit more ruthless in key moments.

"We didn’t deserve to lose the game and we go on performances. If we perform like that every week, then you will win more than you lose.

"At the minute, we are falling on the wrong side of big decisions.

"There’s certain things we need to improve on and certain things that haven’t become a habit yet that we need to improve on, which we need to get better at and that’s what we’ll do.”

Offering his take on proceedings, Rovers assistant Cliff Byrne professed delight as the South Yorkshire side recorded their fifth victory in seven matches in all competitions this term.

He said: “We saw the teamsheet, but even beyond that, the squad they possess is very, very strong and I felt the cohesion we had and connection we had on the pitch, that even when they brought on those three players (Jonathan Hogg, Ben Wiles and Antony Evans) who are established first-team players that we still maintained and kept control of the ball.

"Yes, some set-plays came in and at times, you have to ride your luck a little bit. But I think there was control from our point of view.

"It’s something that the players can take great credit. Their decision making on the pitch is growing all the time and their trust in the manager’s game play was there to see this evening.”