Doncaster Rovers: Richard Chaplow's dismay at Rovers' '˜incredible' winless run

Defeat at Bury on Saturday stretched Rovers’ winless run to 16 league matches, leaving them eight points from safety with the finishing line in sight.

And he admits the poor run and increasing pressure to win every game has taken its toll on the players.

“I think there’s a lot of the lads that are down,” he said. “There’s a lot of frustration in the dressing room.

“It’s 16 we’ve gone without winning which is incredible.

“I’ve never known anything like it in my career. It’s been really tough.

“The lads gave everything again and you couldn’t ask for much more on and off the ball in terms of workrate and creating chances.

“It’s just that final bit if quality which is something we’ve been desperately missing in the final few games.

“Whether that’s because we’ve maybe not got that clarity of mind you’d have on a winning run. We’re not being clinical enough in the final third and it’s costing us points.

“If you’re winning games and the points are coming in, the chances we had are hitting the back of the net.

“When there’s so much riding on them and you’re in a rut like we are at the minute, all of a sudden maybe you don’t trust yourself, question your instincts and then the chance is gone or you’ve not tried to hit the back of the net with it.”

Chaplow says Rovers have a duty to fight over the five remaining games and must quickly pick themselves up ahead of next weekend’s clash against a Wigan Athletic side destined to secure promotion to the Championship.

He said: “We’ve got to pick ourselves back up.

“We’ve got five games left to try to make something out of the rest of the season, muster something up and try to stay in this league.

“It’s down to us as players to do that.”