Doncaster Rovers talking points - Momentum building as front men sparkle

Here are four major takeaways to emerge from the game:

Momentum building

Rovers sealed a third straight home win and did so in an efficient manner.

If you were a neutral with no knowledge of these two teams, you'd be forgiven for confusing Rovers as the team that entered this game in fourth place rather than 20th.

Crewe offered precious little, aside from a second half chance which Thimothee Lo-Tutala kept out with his feet.

For Rovers' fans this was as comfortable a victory as they've seen all season.

Adelakun's goal

It will no doubt have been the major discussion in the boozers around Doncaster last night: Did Hakeeb Adelakun actually mean his goal straight from a corner?

When asked, Grant McCann says it was a ploy that they had worked on.

"We knew their goalkeeper hadn't played for a while so we were a little bit surprised when we saw the teams," said McCann. "The remit was to try and put a few balls under the crossbar. Nobody said put it straight in! But Haks has done it. It was planned to put it in and around him and the delivery was excellent.

"Once we got the teamsheet, and this is nothing against the goalkeeper because he's very good, we wanted to put those first few corners underneath him."

Attackers sparkling

Whilst Adelakun will once again grab most of the plaudits, there were plenty of other eye-catching performances in terms of Rovers attackers.

Luke Molyneux was the Free Press' choice for man of the match and McCann waxed lyrical post-match about the winger: "I think Luke's performed to a high standard all season. He's a threat, very direct, his crossing has been very good the last couple of games.

"Obviously he'd always want higher numbers but we feel he'll always score and create."

Max Biamou also got warm words after his longest stint yet in a Rovers shirt, after replacing Joe Ironside at the break: "He's different to Joe but he's aggressive. He wins balls in the air and it's a good option for us to have because they're both very strong.

Harrison Biggins was also name-checked after another impressive outing for the midfielder - although McCann had a tongue-in-cheek dig at his attempt at a scissor kick in the second half.

"He's playing well, Harrison," said his manager. "He keeps trying ridiculous things in the game (bicycle kick) but he sees himself in a confident place at the moment so who am I to say anything about that!

Strength in depth

You only have to look at the list of players that didn't even make the matchday squad to see how many options McCann has at his disposal.

The likes of Jay McGrath, Tom Nixon and George Broadbent all missed out here. Midfielder Tommy Rowe was in a similar boat not long ago but was back in the fray here, scoring the vital second goal after coming off the bench.

He says standards are being raised due to the competition within the squad: "We had a very good training session last Thursday and the standard of play was outstanding. It could have been anyone on the bench today, and that's what is great about having a team full of quality. It makes those in the starting XI train even harder.

"Training goes up, expectation goes up and players have to keep their places. It's an interesting one."