Doncaster Rovers boss Darren Ferguson builds on positives after exit to Nottingham Forest

On a night when Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday conceded late goals en route to League Cup exits, there was particular pain for Rovers’ Ferguson, whose side let in a last-gasp winner for the second match running.

Last season, Rovers also suffered late on against Blackpool, Peterborough United and Rochdale as they slid to relegation.

But given Rovers’ purposeful second-half performance against a strong Nottingham Forest side in a disciplined overall showing, Ferguson was keen to accentuate the positives.

Doncaster chief Ferguson, whose side included debutants in the impressive Joe Wright and Tyler Garrett – with a further four players making their full home bows – said: “It was another late goal and I don’t want that to be too much of a problem. Two games in with two defeats is not great but I know that we have got a committed bunch of lads who want to learn and a good balance of experience and youth.

“They have taken the information in that we worked on very well. On Saturday, I don’t want to use the word excited, but I think that they let the game get to them with it being the first of the season with some thinking: ‘we have got to go there and win.’ We were too open and we were better on Tuesday.

“We have to take the stuff that we did well into Saturday’s game and get the three points.

“In the first half, I was pleased with the way we were disciplined. It was not our best performance, but we were against a team who wanted to dominate possession. But, in the second half, we were better and we grew into the game.

“I thought we showed a lot more bravery on the ball.”

Ferguson’s changes included a first home start since May 2015, for Marko Marosi in goal, with the plan always being to take a look at the Slovakian Under-21 international.

The Rovers chief believes that there is genuine competition between Marosi and summer signing Ross Etheridge and that the pair can spur other on.

“Marko was always going to play and I have got two good young goalkeepers who are really fighting for a starting place on Saturday.”