Doncaster Rovers boss shares his thoughts on Hartlepool United's win at the Eco-Power Stadium

Schofield watched on as his side fell to a defeat thanks to an excellent goal from Hartlepool defender Dan Dodds late in the game.

Hartlepool shaded things in the first half with chances for Tayt Trusty and Oliver Finney before Doncaster improved after the break, bringing debutant goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk into action on a couple of occasions - most notably through Caolan Lavery’s effort from inside the area.

But Schofield believes his Rovers team weren’t quite good enough in the final third as they would slip to defeat against Keith Curle's side with Dodds’ late strike.

“It’s difficult sometimes when a team is sitting in really deep, and Hartlepool did that really well,” said Schofield.

“We didn’t have that final action and quality in the final third to result in a goal.

“We were unsure on which players they’d select, which shape and tactical formation, but it is what it is. We just dealt with that the best we could and focused on what we could do with and without the ball.

“For large parts of the game I thought we were good but [we] suffered on the counter late in the game.

“We conceded a number of goals in the previous game and we wanted to really improve on that which I thought, for large periods, we did.”

Schofield added: “We knew Hartlepool would come here full of fight. They’re fighting for their lives and we needed to be up for the challenge. That was my first message to the players.

“I thought we defended well and were aggressive enough and fell short in our attacking final third.”

“It’s never part of the plan to lose football games. It’s about winning football games and we try to prepare the team as much as possible to do that.

“You’ve got another team wanting to do the same thing and in the last three games we’ve fallen short on that front.”

The win for Hartlepool was crucial in that it keeps them above the relegation zone with those around them still holding games in hand.