Grant McCann: Doncaster Rovers proud after running Everton close in Carabao Cup

Jack Senior summed up the Doncaster disappointment on the final whistle at having come so close, but boss Grant McCann wants to take positives from the display

Doncaster Rovers can be proud of their performance in Tuesday's narrow Carabao Cup defeat by Premier League side Everton, says boss Grant McCann.

Rovers led their top-flight opponents thanks to Joe Ironside's header just before half-time, while denying the Toffees a goal of their own.

It was not until Beto levelled on 73 minutes that they were breached, before Arnaut Danjuma's 88th-minute winner.

"We carved out a lot of good chances," McCann told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"The performance levels were high, the energy levels were good and we played some good football. We've seen it in two games now."

McCann's side belied their disappointing start to the League Two season with this display, having drawn one and lost four of their opening fixtures to prop up the English Football League.

They had 15 shots on goal, one more than their illustrious opponents, and the same amount of efforts on target.

Yet it was the defensive failings for Danjuma's effort which lingered on the Northern Irishman when considering his team's efforts.

"We're gutted about the two goals we conceded," McCann added.

"The first one is a world-class pass and a world-class run that is sometimes hard to defend.

"The second one we feel is avoidable, we speak about it all the time about letting people inside us, tracking runs.

"These are things we have to get better at because we can't let teams get inside us."