Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann has told his squad not to bother coming back if they don’t think they’ll win the league next season following their League Two play-off exit.
The Yorkshire side went into last night’s second leg against Crewe Alexandra as the heavy favourites to secure a place at Wembley. Having won the first leg 2-0 at the Mornflake Stadium and unbeaten in 13 outings, the result looked a foregone conclusion.
However, the Railwaymen wiped out the home side’s advantage in a frantic first quarter of the game. Mickey Demetriou opened the scoring after just six minutes before and own goal from James Maxwell 10 minutes later levelled the tie.
Rovers dominated possession but couldn’t find a way through Lee Bell’s defence. Eventually, after 120 minutes, the game went to penalties.
For the first eight spot kicks, neither team wanted to relinquish control. Demetriou missed Crewe’s second, but parity remained when Zain Westbrook saw his effort immediately saved by Max Stryjek. The next five all hit the back of the net, leaving Hakeeb Adelakun needing to score to force sudden death. The attacker, who has been in stunning form since joining on loan from Lincoln City, couldn’t convert though, sending Crewe through to the final.
The moment Crewe reached the League Two play-off final. #CreweAlex
— The Real EFL (@RealEFLSocial) May 10, 2024
It was heartbreak for Doncaster, who only found themselves in the play-offs thanks to a stunning late season surge. They had struggled in the lower reaches of the table for much of the campaign before embarking on a 10-game winning run from March.
Speaking after the game, via the Yorkshire Post, McCann is determined not to leave it so late next season whilst criticising some of his players for last night’s performance:
“We wanted to be positive – I know it didn’t look like that in the first half.
“I was on the sidelines saying to Cliff (Byrne, his assistant) was it a mentality issue in one or two or three or four players thinking we don’t really need to win?
“Has that taken over some of them? I don’t know because it certainly didn’t come from us as a coaching staff. Our message was to win this game tonight, it wasn’t to sit back.
“But it probably looked like we did and that was a concern for us.
“This club shouldn’t be in League Two,” he continued. “Ultimately we haven’t done the job and that’s really hurtful for me.
“I said to the players it’s hard and players might be disappointed but I said we’ll be going to win the league next season, there’s no question.
“I said if there’s anyone who doesn’t think they can, tell your agent to call me and find a new club because there’s no way I’m waiting for my team to get going for another three r four months like we did at the start of this season.
“Some of the players have got a decision to make. If they’re not ready to win the league, don’t come back.”
Writer’s View
McCann was clearly hurting in the immediate aftermath of the game and he won’t feel any better this morning. He could be forgiven that he should be planning for a trip to Wembley and a chance of taking the club back in to League One.
Nobody saw last night’s result coming and Crewe deserve a huge deal of credit for the way they attacked their opponents in the early stages. Lee Bell will now be confident, especially if they meet Crawley Town in the final. The Railwaymen have won both of the previous meeting between the pair this season and haven’t tasted defeat against the Red Devils in their last seven clashes.
