Doncaster Rovers head coach Danny Schofield has told the Doncaster Free Press that he believes striker Reo Griffiths needs to step up if he wants to start playing more games and have a future at the club.
The 22-year-old striker signed for the Yorkshire-based outfit on a two-and-a-half-year deal from French side Lyon in January 2022 but since Schofield was appointed in mid-October, he has only played a total of 17 minutes for the club.
Since swapping Lyon for Doncaster, Griffiths has made a total of 21 appearances for the club, finding the back of the net on only two occasions.
Before moving to North Yorkshire, Griffiths reportedly attracted interest from clubs across Europe after scoring 33 times for Tottenham’s U18s in the 2017/18 season before signing a four-year contract with Lyon in August 2018, in which he went on to score 15 goals in 38 appearances for their U19s, however, he never managed to break into the first team during his time in France.
Griffiths was also an England international at youth level and part of the U17 side that reached the final of the UEFA Under-17 Championship in 2017, part of a squad which included the likes of Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Marc Guehi.
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However, so far this season, Griffiths has been on the receiving end of injuries and fitness issues that have kept him out of the squad at the Eco Power Stadium, with the striker limited to only making five appearances for the club in all competitions this campaign, having been left out of the last eight matchday squads.
Speaking to the Doncaster Free Press, Schofield has admitted Griffiths needs to do more in training to break into the matchday squad for upcoming matches as other players are doing that little bit more but has also explained that the door is not yet shut for him to do that.
“There are players in the building who need to continue to work hard,” explained Schofield.
“Reo’s not been in my mind because I feel the other players are doing a bit more in training and impressing me a little bit more to get into the squad.
“It’s never say never with players who aren’t involved. They have just got to continue to work as hard as possible, influencing my decision to get that opportunity.”
Doncaster were relegated from League One last season following a miserable campaign in which they finished 22nd in the league, being relegated to the fourth division alongside Crewe Alexandra, AFC Wimbledon and Gillingham.
This season, they currently sit 10th in League Two after a campaign which has been somewhat inconsistent thus far, with the club currently three points away from Salford City in seventh, who currently occupy the final play-off place.
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Writers View
It’s a difficult one for Reo Griffiths as he’s a player that came to Doncaster with some really good pedigree, especially at youth level with Spurs and Lyon. It doesn’t help that he joined during a tough period for the club in League One as well in which the club were eventually relegated a few months after he signed.
However, injuries, his all-round form and the form of striker George Miller, who has nine for the season, has undoubtedly kept the striker down the pecking order and with the arrival of another striker in Caolan Lavery from National League Scunthorpe United in January, his chances of getting back into the squad are forever slimming.
There is still light at the end of the tunnel for Griffiths to turn things around, but it has to be done sooner rather than later if he still wants to be a part of plans at the club going forward.
