Doncaster Rovers defender Ro-Shaun Williams had a match to forget over the weekend, playing all 90 minutes in the Rovers’ 2-0 loss to Walsall at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Williams made mistakes on both of the Walsall goals, ensuring that the visitors would take all three points from their League Two tie. 

Despite the errors, teammates and coaches shared encouraging words for Williams after the match, as per Doncaster Free Press. 

“I think everyone made a couple of errors and if you’re a defender more often than not it leads to a goal,” said Doncaster midfielder Ben Close. "For the first goal I can think of three errors that led to that. There is obviously more if we watch it back.

"It’s part of football making mistakes, it’s part of football when it ends up in the back of the net…It’s happened to every single one of us at some point in our career. He’s strong enough and we’re all strong enough to bounce back.”

The Doncaster manager also had words of encouragement for Williams in his assessment of his team.

“It’s not for the faint-hearted, this game of football,” said Danny Schofield. “Mistakes are going to happen…It is down to us to support players when their confidence does drop, to be positive with them so they learn from their mistakes. They happen.

"Not just Ro-Shaun, the way we conceded the goals as a team; the way we had the ball – we were looking to attack and then came unstuck.”

The Verdict

Obviously, the Walsall defeat was a match to forget for Williams. Making two mistakes in the second half, both of which lead to Walsall goals, is a worst-case scenario for the former Manchester United youth product. 

Now, if these mistakes become more frequent, then Danny Schofield may need to relegate Williams to the bench. 

Williams has started and completed all 20 of Doncaster’s League Two matches. The 24-year-old averages more than an interception each match and has helped his squad find their footing in the middle of the League Two table. Williams is always available, which is a skill in it of itself.

Yes, the performance against Walsall was bad. However, Williams has shown that he deserves a chance to keep his spot in the starting 11.