There were a few changes, both in personnel & formation, but ultimately the same old problems were still there, we started well and then wavered in the second half, but ultimately we are through to the next round of the cup.
All eyes were on the Southampton penalty area where Daniel Perezt stepped in for his debut with Gavin Bazunu rested, but the truth was Perezt did not excel and in terms of our defensive problems from this performance at least nothing changed.
To tackle the goalkeeping issue first up, Perezt had 6 efforts on target to deal with, he made 4 decent enough stops, but all of them those that you would expect him to make.
He also came out for a cross, that he fumbled and dropped and in the resulting scramble we conceded a corner that almost led to a goal.
Doncaster's first goal was a free header from close range, I would question his positional play here, he seemed to go for the cross at the near post and then realise he was getting nowhere near it and was nowhere near the header, but in fairness this was a typical type of goal we have conceded of late, an unmarked header from close range.
The second goal conceded though was not a good one, Peretz did not react to the shot and just stood and watched as it went in at his right hand post, that was worrying, when Bazunu is criticised for letting in a goal, he has always made some attempt at it, I don't think Peretz thought it was going wide and had got his angles wrong, he just failed to act.
He redeemed himself at the end a little, making two reaction saves, both from standing positions, but overall I did not think this was an impressive debut and certainly not one that should earn him the nod over Bazunu on Saturday.
Of course there has to be some leeway, he has barely played in the last year, he would be rusty, but we could temper that against the fact this was against League One opposition, although in fairness I think the rest of the team should be called out for that, rather than the goalkeeper.
There will be some who are in the "Anyone but Bazunu" camp who will be calling for his League debut on Saturday, but for me, he did not do enough to warrant that yet, if we want a fair comparison, if Bazunu had just had exactly the same game, they would be blaming him for both goals, especially the second, bringing his reflexes into question and lambasting him for dropping the cross.
Elsewhere in the field, it was a question of two halves, we steamrollered Doncaster, the 4-4-2 formation looked good, the midfield performed and we scored three times, all of them good goals in their own right through Cameron Bragg, Cameron Archer and Kuryu (Possibly Cameron in English) Matsuki, all the talk at half time was about who we would get in the next round.
But within 3 minutes of the restart things changed drastically, we were all at sea from a corner and a free header from close range gave the home side hope, every time they attacked they looked dangerous.
Just before the hour mark they were only a goal behind us, we have already covered that one in depth.
We made changes, Tonda Eckert realised that with the tiny Jelert & Welington at full backs in a back four, we did not have enough height in the side, just Harwood-Bellis & Quarshie, so he took off Jelert and brought on Wood with Scienza coming on for Robinson.
But now Doncaster could smell fear and they could smell blood and we were all at sea at the back and our midfield was being over run, we took off Bragg & Archer and replaced them with Jander & Stewart, but nothing really changed.
Now we were a disorganised rabble and God knows how Doncaster didn't score an equaliser.
So as I said in the preview, the issue isn't the goalkeeper, it is the lack of leadership and organisation in defence, it is about a fragile confidence, we dominated the first half, but once Doncaster pushed a little we buckled and it was embarrassing to watch.
It doesn't matter whether we have 3 at the back or a more traditional back four, without leadership we are a rabble, Doncaster Rovers a team second from bottom in League One can do this to us, what hope have we got against the better Championship sides.
The problem isn't about a back 3, it isn't the goalkeeper, it is about having the right type of players in the defence, contrasting players to suit the occasion , I don't know who is out there and who we could get, but I know what the problem is.
This transfer window is crucial, we have to but in an experienced central defender but not just that, a leader and organiser, we do not have the assets we need in that man, already at the club.
Of course this is me saying the same things as I said last week and the week before, in fact in nearly every week in the last 8 years, so why is it not being dealt with.
I don't think we have a bad squad, I think with that crucial signing in the back four we can challenge for play offs, but we need to deal with the issues now or face mid table mediocrity.