A year in the life ... Darren Ferguson aims to repay faith of Doncaster Rovers' board

Refreshingly, that iron-clad resolve can reap a handsome dividend from time to time, as has been witnessed in recent times at first Barnsley and now at Doncaster Rovers.

Just as the Reds’ faith in sticking with Lee Johnson was vindicated by way of the seeds being sown for a remarkable resurgence in the second half of 2015-16 after a truly desperate autumnal run – the club’s worst set of results for over 50 years – so Rovers’ determination to stand by their man in Darren Ferguson is now bearing considerable fruit.

Like Johnson, Ferguson had it incredibly tough for a fair portion of last season.

The Scot endured a horrendous late winter and spring which ultimately culminated in the club’s relegation to League Two, with the Rovers chief quickly accepting his share of responsibility for a full-blown ‘failure’.

Fate may have decreed that Johnson was always destined to leave Barnsley just prior to his first anniversary in charge, with the emotional pull of a move to ‘his’ club in Bristol City proving too much of an allure in February.

But head 15 miles east and Ferguson is steadfastly determined to finish off the job ahead of his own milestone.

With Rovers currently second in League Two, Ferguson – whose first anniversary in charge arrives on Sunday – can afford himself a feeling of atonement somewhat.

But you sense he will not truly rest until Rovers are back in League One, as he strives to provide full endorsement for the faith of a board who stuck by him during an atrocious 16-match winless streak which yielded a pitiful four points from 48.

Reflecting on an eventful opening year at Rovers, Ferguson told The Yorkshire Post: “It has had its challenges and it has been frustrating at times and really enjoyable at others.

“It has had its surprises too, although after 10 years in management now, I should not really be surprised by anything.

“Even with that bad period and the end result last year, I have still absolutely loved it, I really have.

“The one thing that stands out for me is that this is a fantastic football club with good people in charge who give you a chance.

“Even though we had our bad times, the supporters have also been great and the club has got great potential that we want to try and fulfil.

“It is good when as a manager, you are allowed to get on with the job in the way you want to do it, which I have been.

“That has been satisfying and, hopefully, we will start seeing the rewards for that.

“We had a good summer’s transfer market and did good business and now it is my team in terms of where I want it to be.”

Even accounting for the shock of relegation which nobody connected with Rovers envisaged as a real possibility until well into the second half of last season, support for Ferguson critically never wavered among those in the corridors of power.

The investment of faith in Ferguson was such that summer recruitment plans were being drawn up well before Rovers’ fate was decided, with it clear from an early stage that the Scot would be entrusted with piloting Rovers in 2016-17, whether that was in League One and League Two.

Relegation did not prevent the board from sanctioning some pro-active early summer transfers, with a number of senior players also told that they had no future at the club as Ferguson sought to wrestle with the thorny issue of player recruitment which he labelled as ‘absolutely horrendous’ prior to his arrival.

Twelve games into the new season and it is a case of so far, so good in terms of the resurgence.

But for Ferguson, his sole interest is where Rovers finish in May, having admitted in the summer that promotion is a must given a League Two budget which is only surpassed by Portsmouth and a few others in 2016-17.

Ferguson, whose side boast a nine-match unbeaten league streak on home soil, heading into Saturday’s game with Colchester, said: “What you like to get is consistency and that is the key to performances and results.

“We are unbeaten at home and have got to make sure we are strong here.

“But I want to see the players getting better and better and I am not satisfied.

“For me, nothing has really changed in my philosophy since I first came into the football club. We had that three-month spell where it was really bad and the end results were there to be seen in terms of the end result which was being relegated, which was never something I imagined.

“I never wanted to be back in League Two. It had been a long time since I had been there as a manager.

“But you get on with it and dust yourself down and as long as people can see what you’re doing and back you, then it gives you a chance.”