06 March 2021

Andy Butler says ‘incredible shift’ key to Doncaster beating Plymouth

06 March 2021

Andy Butler hailed “an incredible shift” put in by his Doncaster Rovers side to secure a 2-1 win over Plymouth and continue his winning start to managerial life.

Goals from captain Tom Anderson and Omar Bogle had Rovers two goals up after 47 minutes.

But Plymouth pulled a goal back quickly through Niall Ennis and pushed hard for an equaliser for the majority of the second half.

Doncaster produced an impressive defensive performance to hold on to their advantage, much to Butler’s delight.

“The word I’m looking for is entertaining,” he said. “It’s a good result for us and there were some really good performances out there.

“It got a bit nervy after they got the goal back but we had chances to make it more comfortable.

“Overall, performance-wise, the players put in an incredible shift on and off the ball so I’m really pleased.

“I’ve asked the players to be on the front foot and press the opposition. Obviously there are going to be occasions where we can’t do it but I want them to excite me in the final third.

“People want to see entertaining football and hopefully we’re giving them.”

Anderson scored a header from a corner which is something Rovers have struggled to achieve this season.

He said: “It’s pleasing. (Goalkeeping coach) Paul Gerrard works hard on on them.

“It’s just a desire to get on the end of them and who better than your captain to lead by example and get his head to the cross.

“I’m really pleased for Tom. He really drags the team up and I thought we looked a threat a few times from set pieces.”

Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe felt his side had more than enough chances to take all three points from the Keepmoat.

The Pilgrims dominated attacking play after the break and were unfortunate not to at least equalise, ensuring Lowe was pleased with the performance.

“We conceded the first goal after seven minutes when we lost our man from a corner and that gave us a bit of a mountain to climb but we had enough chances to win the game and I thought we were excellent up to half-time,” he said.

“But then again, at the start of the second half, somebody wasn’t marking their man in the second phase and we found ourselves 2-0 down.

“The possession stats will say that we ran the game but we had 21 chances and we only scored one so, overall, I’m disappointed but, at the same time, pleased with large parts of the game.

“I did feel we had enough going forward and we created enough chances, but we just didn’t put the ball in the net apart from the one that Niall Ennis stuck away for us.”

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