Grant McCann proud after Doncaster survive second-half onslaught to beat Burton

Grant McCann was proud of his Doncaster side as they withstood a second-half onslaught from Burton to secure a precious 2-1 win.

Rovers struck twice in the first 12 minutes through Luke Molyneux’s second-minute penalty and Owen Bailey’s close-range finish 10 minutes later to seize control of the battle of two of League One’s bottom six.

“I am so proud of the boys that they stood firm in that second half,” McCann said.

“We had to defend corner after corner. One moment we don’t defend properly, and they score but the rest of it we were second to none,” he added after Kyran Lofthouse set up a nervy finish with a header with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Rovers’ opening stunned Albion and they could have been further ahead through debutant Elliot Lee but for a superb save from Brad Collins and McCann acknowledged his side’s dominance.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half and were much the better side and got two good early goals,” he continued. “We had a couple of other chances before half-time where we could have made it three and then Burton were the better team in the second half.

“We knew that would be the case and that we wouldn’t get it our own way. We knew we were coming into a tough game tonight. They beat Huddersfield here comprehensively a couple of weeks ago and could have beaten Cardiff at the weekend.

“We wanted to come here tonight and win. We wanted a response after Saturday at Bradford and we’ve done that.”

Burton head coach Gary Bowyer was left frustrated after a “horrific” start to the game that left them with a mountain to climb just 12 minutes in.

“From our perspective it was a horrific start. We didn’t do enough in the first half at all and it was an appalling start,” Bowyer said.

Albion dominated the second half and Bowyer was pleased with the response of his side as they tried to repair the damage.

He added: “The reaction in the second half was terrific. The triple substitution worked. I think we had 20 corners and 20 shots on their goal, but we haven’t put enough on target. It’s as simple as that.”

Albion had come through three games against the top three unlucky to only take a point but when up against a fellow relegation rival were found wanting.

“It’s nights like tonight when you really get to see the character of people and tonight I learned a hell of a lot,” Bowyer said.

Albion had the ball in the net a second time through Jake Beesley only for a controversial offside to rule it out.

“It is clearly onside,” Bowyer said. “But I don’t want to get into the habit of talking about officials.”