Grant McCann admits Owen Bailey in ‘top form’ for Doncaster after Accrington win

Boss Grant McCann praised Owen Bailey after the midfielder came off the bench to send Doncaster into the Carabao Cup third round with a 2-0 victory at League Two Accrington.

Bailey, introduced in the 67th minute, now has four goals for the season after heading home fellow substitute Glenn Middleton’s corner eight minutes later.

He then set up Ben Close who rifled home from the edge of the area for the second on 82 minutes.

Josh Woods had seen red for Stanley after collecting his second yellow card after 71 minutes.

McCann said: “Owen is in top form and I told him to go on and score and it was nice to see him score from a corner, he is making a knack of that.

“Ben has put in two good performances in the cup, scored in both games, and he just has to be patient.

“I said this would be a tougher game than Middlesbrough in the first round as we had to make sure we didn’t underestimate Accrington.

“I drilled that home and we were average in the first half but much better in the second half.

“We deserve a good home tie after Middlesbrough and Accrington away, hopefully it will be at home against one of the big teams. Let’s just see how far we can go.”

Stanley boss John Doolan felt for his players after bowing out of the competition.

He said: “I am disappointed, the lads deserved more out of the performance. For 74 minutes, there was nothing in the game and we more than matched them.

“The sending off was pivotal but the fact they could change all their front line shows how big a club they are.”