WE MUST KEEP OUR BELIEF, STRESSES SHEAF
BEN Sheaf has certainly made an impression at Doncaster and he believes opponents’ increased attempts to limit his impact can only be a good thing.
The 21-year-old midfielder arrived at the Keepmoat Stadium on a six-month loan deal from Arsenal during the summer, slotting straight into the side as boss Darren Moore seeks to instil a free-flowing, passing philosophy.
And while he realises opponents have been giving him and midfield partner Ben Whiteman, 23, less time on the ball in recent weeks, he sees that as flattering.
“In the last few games me and Ben have been man-marked a fair bit,” he reflected.
“We’ve not had much time and space to play and dictate.
“I guess you could take that as a compliment but it’s down to us to find other ways to get us playing.
“I’m enjoying that sort of responsibility of trying to get us playing and having the pressure to do that.
“We’ve just got to keep trying to do the right things, and it’s clear what our style of play is now.”
Moore’s preferred approach is inevitably taking time to bed in, with Rovers enduring a mixed start to the season – struggling to put together a consistent run of results.
But while certain teams have been more successful than others at thwarting Donny, Sheaf insists patience and belief in the system remain paramount going forward.
“Some teams have had a bit of joy with it but we need to not get disheartened by it, remain confident and believe in our ability that we can do it,” he added.
“We need to just keep believing in our philosophy.
“We might have lacked that in the last few games but we need to find it somewhere, dig deep for it and keep bringing it again.”