{"id":608428,"date":"2022-01-21T10:27:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T15:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=608428"},"modified":"2022-01-21T20:53:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-22T01:53:29","slug":"doncaster-rovers-goalkeeper-jonathan-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/01\/21\/doncaster-rovers-goalkeeper-jonathan-mitchell\/","title":{"rendered":"Doncaster Rovers Sign Goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/01\/06\/ethan-galbraiths-doncaster-rovers-loan\/\" target=\"_self\">Doncaster Rovers<\/a> have confirmed goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell as their fourth signing of the January transfer window.<\/p>\n<p>The 27-year-old has signed an 18-month deal at the Eco-Power Stadium.<\/p>\n<h2>Goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell Becomes Doncaster Rovers&#8217; Fourth Signing of Winter Window<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u270d\ufe0f We are pleased to confirm the signing of goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell on an 18-month deal.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TulsuwAGAV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/TulsuwAGAV<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COYD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#COYD<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XkG5LfpBsF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XkG5LfpBsF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Doncaster Rovers FC (@drfc_official) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/drfc_official\/status\/1484541240347709449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Mitchell Provides Competition Following Pontus Dahlberg Exit<\/h3>\n<p>Former Derby County goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell has arrived at the Eco-Power Stadium to strengthen Doncaster&#8217;s options in the goalkeeping department. Mitchell replaces Pontus Dahlberg, who had been on loan with Rovers from Premier League side Watford. The Hornets elected to recall Dahlberg and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/01\/14\/watford-goalkeeper-pontus-dahlberg-gillingham\/\" target=\"_self\">send him on loan to Gillingham<\/a> after he lost his place as Rovers&#8217; number one keeper.<\/p>\n<p>Dahlberg was the preferred option of former Doncaster boss Richie Wellens but, following his sacking in early December, quickly became an understudy to Louis Jones, who is now Gary McSheffrey&#8217;s preferred option between the sticks.<\/p>\n<p>McSheffrey initially indicated that Ben Bottomley would become the second-choice goalkeeper. However, later told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk\/sport\/football\/gary-mcsheffrey-talks-his-ideal-defensive-midfielder-and-reveals-doncaster-rovers-have-made-offers-for-two-attackers-3535962\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doncaster Free Press<\/a> that he was now looking to add another goalkeeper in the January window: &#8220;We&#8217;ll maybe explore a couple of goalkeeper options as cover for Louis Jones, but not just cover, and give him a challenge as well.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was always the plan to go with Ben Bottomley in the short term as the number two and give Louis the games.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Louis needs to be pushed. He needs to be challenged.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ben is not there yet. He&#8217;s got bags of potential but he&#8217;s young and he needs games. Realistically, he&#8217;s going to need a loan and game time in men&#8217;s football.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We maybe need to explore the opportunity to get in a good number two who is going to challenge to be number one.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Mitchell&#8217;s Experience so Far<\/h3>\n<p>Goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell, who most recently had a short-term spell with Hartlepool United in League Two, is the goalkeeper McSheffrey and Rovers have chosen to go with.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell made 42 appearances in a loan with Northampton Town in 2020\/21 &#8211; the most he has made for any one club &#8211; conceding 56 goals and keeping 13 clean sheets. This season, he kept two clean sheets in eight appearances for Hartlepool.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell follows Kieran Agard, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/01\/17\/doncaster-rovers-josh-martin-loan\/\" target=\"_self\">Josh Martin<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/01\/19\/doncaster-rovers-ollie-younger\/\" target=\"_self\">Ollie Younger<\/a> in arriving at Doncaster Rovers this month.<\/p>\n<h3>Desire to Play<\/h3>\n<p>Jonathan Mitchell told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk\/news\/2022\/january\/mitchell-say-he-can-wait-to-get-started\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">doncasterroversfc.co.uk<\/a> upon signing for the club; &#8220;I left Hartlepool earlier this month and I heard there was a bit of interest. I spoke to the gaffer and jumped at the chance to join. The conversations have been really positive and I think the gaffer wants to change a few things.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Obviously, we&#8217;re not in a great position at the minute, but he has a plan and a real belief that we can push on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On providing competition for Louis Jones, he added: &#8220;First and foremost, Louis and I both want to be playing. It will be a healthy rivalry and I&#8217;ve had that wherever I&#8217;ve been and I feel like we can better each other. I&#8217;ve seen in training the potential that he has and I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;ll push each other on.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sometimes, being a goalkeeper is almost like a team within a team &#8211; the unfortunate part is only one can play.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"mBzLdOgOQ_9-tHKSHB8Egw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1168858085\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'mBzLdOgOQ_9-tHKSHB8Egw',sig:'MwcRD4yWC0iydaEKodWbUhXADHaOjSGlJKzOsJK_kuY=',w:'594px',h:'388px',items:'1168858085',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doncaster Rovers have confirmed goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell as their fourth signing of the January transfer window. The 27-year-old has signed an 18-month deal at the Eco-Power Stadium. Goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell Becomes Doncaster Rovers&#8217; Fourth Signing of Winter Window \u270d\ufe0f We are pleased to confirm the signing of goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell on an 18-month deal.https:\/\/t.co\/TulsuwAGAV #COYD [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3469,"featured_media":608431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,32,28],"tags":[294,4701],"class_list":["post-608428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-league12","category-league-football","category-transfers","tag-doncaster-rovers","tag-jonathan-mitchell"],"modified_by":"Jordan Hackett, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}