Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers: Give me a selection headache for Peterborough clash, boss tells fringe men

The Checkatrade Trophy tie provides an opportunity to quickly bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing defeat at AFC Wimbledon - Rovers’ first loss of the season.

Ferguson will ring the changes at Blundell Park to get some valuable game time into his squad.

And he wants those who get the nod to give him something to think about ahead of this weekend’s meeting with League One pacesetters Peterborough United.

“The ones that haven’t been playing regularly will get games and I’m looking for a performance from them,” said Ferguson.

“I want them to make my job hard for next week.

“I can’t be too harsh on the players because hopefully the performance on Saturday was a one-off.

“But we know we’re in for a tough game next week against Peterborough because they’re a good team.”

Ferguson apologized to the travelling support at Kingsmeadow on Saturday.

“You just hope it’s a one-off, you don’t want that on a consistent basis,” he said.

“We’ve been okay up to now but the tempo just wasn’t quick enough in the first half.

“The quality of our counter attacks, the quality of the final pass wasn’t there and obviously there was a lack of quality in defending the two goals.

“It’s not often I go to my own supporters and apologize for the performance.

“They turned up in their numbers and I felt for them because what they saw was unusual because they don’t see it very often. It was nowhere near the standards we pride ourselves on.”