Source: Team_Talk
Rodgers hails Hornets progress
An own goal from defender Sam Hird gave Watford the lead in the 13th minute, and Don Cowie doubled their lead five minutes later.
Doncaster pulled a goal back through James Hayter late in the game but could not find an equaliser.
Rodgers, whose side are now eight points clear of the relegation zone, said: "We probably need one more win to be sure but our ambitions are higher than that.
"I am pleased with our progress but I want us to maintain our motivation and finish as high as we can.
"We played Doncaster at home in my first match in charge last November and they gave us a lot of problems.
"They can play terrific football if you let them but I think this result is a measure of how far we have come."
Two early goals did the trick for Watford and left the home side with a mountain to climb.
Rovers switched systems and played with three centre-backs, leaving Irish striker Paul Heffernan to forage alone up front.
But they had to revise their play with only half an hour on the clock when they made a substitution with striker Dean Shiels coming on for centre-back Hird. By then the damage had been done.
A calamitous five-minute spell proved the home side's undoing.
Tamas Priskin's cross set up the opening goal as Hird, looking to clear, only succeeded in putting the ball in the back of the net.
Priskin almost added a second a minute later when he was left unmarked but Neil Sullivan did well to save his downward header from Adrian Mariappa's right-wing cross.
But the visitors did not have long to wait before adding to their score as Cowie sent a glancing header into the top corner after taking advantage of more slack marking, with Mariappa again doing the damage down the right.
Shiels' introduction immediately made Doncaster look more menacing and he went close twice before the interval to putting Rovers back into the game.
Watford should have had the match sewn up with a third goal in the 55th minute when Matt Mills played a present of the ball to Will Hoskins but the Watford substitute fired wildly off the mark with only Sullivan to beat.
Rovers snatched a superb consolation when Hayter dribbled down the right before cutting inside to send a magnificent shot curling into the top corner from an angle on the edge of the box.
Doncaster manager Sean O'Driscoll, whose side are now a point worse off than Watford, said: "We started really well but goals change games and we had to go from Plan A to Plan B much quicker than I thought.
"We changed the structure of the side but the tactics were the same - to try to win the game.
"It didn't happen because they scored two early goals and were experienced and cute enough to hold on to their advantage.
"It's immaterial whether we deserved to take something from the game or not because the facts are that we didn't.
"But I don't have a problem with our performance. I thought we reacted well after going behind and showed a lot of character.
"I've no idea how many points we need to be safe but I know we are in a dogfight in this division - and that's been the case from the very first game."
