ROVERS RUE WOOTTON’S RESCUE JOB
GRANT McCANN branded Doncaster’s second-half performance “bang, bang average” as his side had to settle for a draw at Scunthorpe.
Mallik Wilks had fired the visitors ahead midway through a first half they dominated, only for Kyle Wootton to cap a muchimproved Iron performance by securing the hosts a share of the spoils in the 69th minute.
McCann said it was two points dropped for his play-off chasing side. He said: “For every bit as good as we were in the first half, we were poor in the second half.
“We fell into playing how Scunthorpe wanted us to play. We knew their game was to hit big diagonal balls in to Wootton and that’s how their goal came about – we didn’t stop the cross and we didn’t defend the back post.
“I didn’t recognise the team in that second half. We didn’t move the ball quickly enough or create enough chances and when we did create chances, we were slashing at everything.
“We invited pressure onto ourselves by not getting the press right and sitting off them and that’s what sides who play a bit more direct want you to do.
“In the first half we were good without being clinical enough – we should have come in at the break two or three-nil up – but in the second half I thought we lacked composure. Scunthorpe deserved a goal because they were better than us and we didn’t get about them enough.”
Wilks finished clinically to put Rovers ahead with 25 minutes gone, finding the bottom corner after Herbie Kane’s cross had run through to him at the back post.
The on-loan Leeds United man almost doubled Doncaster’s lead early in the second half, driving a shot against a post, following which 22-goal top scorer John Marquis lifted the ball over the bar from inside the six-yard box.
The home side, who grew into the game after the break, deservedly levelled when Levi Sutton worked a quickly-taken freekick out to the right and Wootton headed home his second goal in three games from the resulting cross.
“When we went a goal behind it was about character, digging in and making it into a derby which is exactly what we did,” said Scunthorpe manager Stuart McCall. “I think at the end of it, the stats will show it was a really even game, but I was really pleased with our application. “We needed to show more energy than last week in a 1-0 loss at Gillingham and we did. “We’re really pleased with Kyle’s progression. He wants to learn and get better and now he’s adding goals to his game. “We’re five games unbeaten now at home and, even though we came in at half-time today a goal down, we still believed we could get back into it. “In the last 20 minutes we came on really strong, but I think a draw was a fair result.”