Doncaster Rovers: Ferguson rams home '˜winning is everything' motto

The Scot’s cause was helped this week by a much-needed 1-0 victory against Cambridge United on Tuesday night - Rovers’ first win of the season.

It was only Doncaster’s fourth win in 2016.

The reality is that Rovers are out of the habit of regularly winning games since they won the League One title in 2013.

And Ferguson is very clear about the mind-set he wants at the club and this week delivered a very straightforward message to his players: ‘it doesn’t really matter how you do it, but it’s all about winning’.

“The players have got to understand that Monday to Friday - take away the Tuesday night games - is all about the work we do in training,” said Ferguson.

“But when it comes to a match day, it’s all about winning.

“It’s not about how players progress from game to game, or how much we’ve improved. It’s about winning. And winning for ourselves.

“I think that’s something the younger players have got to understand.

“We want to develop them and we want to improve them as players but when it comes to a match day it’s about winning football matches.

“It’s not about learning from your mistakes in a game because you haven’t got time to learn from your mistakes.”

Ferguson reiterated his point following Tuesday night’s victory: “I heard a great shout from a fan [during the game]. He shouted ‘don’t forget you’ve got to win the game’.

“And he’s right. I spoke about that on Monday [to the media]. It’s not about turning up to improve. When it’s a match day win the game. We obviously need to win more games, and learn how to get more wins.”

The extent of Niall Mason’s injury is likely to become clearer today after the on-loan Aston Villa defender injured his knee in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Crawley.