Thrust into the pressure-cooker environment of management at perilously short notice, Keith Millen is quite rightly taking things one step at a time.

Although his avowed long-term goal remains promotion to the Premier League, his thoughts are necessarily rooted in the here and now while the shockwaves generated by Steve Coppell's sudden departure continue to reverberate around Ashton Gate.

Conducting his first post-match press conference as City's permanent manager pitch-side at the Keepmoat Stadium, Millen said of his new role: "It's quite a daunting task if you look at the bigger picture, a bit like standing at the foot of a big mountain and looking up.

"Experience has taught me you have to take one day at a time. There is so much that goes with the job, you have to prioritise.

"My short-term goal was to be prepared for the Doncaster game. My next goal is to win against Barnsley on Saturday, try to get some more players fit and get one or two more players in to enhance the squad.

"Then I hope to build some momentum and get the players focused on what we are trying to achieve. Of course I want to get to the Premier League, but you have to build one block at a time."

Certainly, this character-filled performance in South Yorkshire will do for starters. Eager to atone for embarrassing defeats to Millwall and Southend United and prove their commitment to the new manager, City's players responded in positive fashion to garner a point on a day when the end result was always going to outweigh quality of performance.

Although Millen's charges will be disappointed not to have held onto the 49th-minute lead afforded them by Damion Stewart's first goal since his transfer from QPR, they ought to at least derive satisfaction from a vastly-improved display.

His resources severely limited by a casualty list of Himalayan proportions, Millen tweaked the starting formation and tactics previously deployed by Coppell and came up with a formula that will give those City supporters who made the long trek north reason to view the immediate future with rather more optimism than a week ago.

Well-organised and obdurate in defence, City's players demonstrated their willingness to pull out all the stops for the new manager, summoning a hard-working performance to stifle opponents renowned for their attractive pass and move style.

"In terms of effort, commitment and passion, I could not have asked for any more," admitted Millen, whose side weathered a first-half storm before assuming control after the break.

"After the week they had had, the lads needed to respond and show their spirit. Everything we have achieved in three seasons in the Championship has been through hard work and that was what I wanted to see, regardless of the result."

Short of proven Championship strikers – Nicky Maynard, Danny Haynes and Sam Vokes are all injured – City are in need of improvement in the final third. In the meantime, Millen must render his team difficult to beat, a task he performed admirably on this occasion. Indeed, David James was not called upon to make a single save of note in a second half that belonged to the visitors. Stewart's goal, delivered four minutes after the break, was the product of long hours spent on the training ground, the burly centre-back rising unopposed at the far post to head in Jamie McAllister's free kick. Sent off on his debut a week earlier, the Jamaican was more than happy to make headlines for all the right reasons.

He said: "The goal was pleasing, because it is something we have worked on in training. Jamie's delivery was spot-on and I couldn't really miss.It's amazing the difference a week can make. I was really down after we'd lost to Millwall and I'd been sent off, but this makes up for it, even if we didn't win the game."

City certainly ought to have taken all three points and Gavin Williams will no doubt have sleepless nights recalling the moment he should have doubled the lead. Latching onto Cole Skuse's cross-field ball, the Welshman surged into the penalty area and skipped past two challenges, only to see his shot blocked when a pass to Jamal Campbell-Ryce would almost certainly have presented his team-mate with an open goal.

Conceding territory during the closing stages, City were given cause to regret their wastefulness when the hitherto faultless McAllister went to ground and inadvertently upended Rovers substitute James Coppinger.

Billy Sharp sent David James the wrong way from the penalty spot to cruelly deny hard-working City the victory. Doncaster, however, will argue that a draw was the least they deserved after Lancashire referee Paul Tierney denied them what they believed to be a clear goal midway through the first half.

When James dropped to his right to keep out George Friend's close-range shot, those Rovers players in the immediate vicinity claimed the ball had crossed the line and protested vehemently when their appeals fell on deaf ears.

On the receiving end of a similar occurrence when representing England against Germany in the last 16 of the World Cup in Bloemfontein in June, James was quick to back the referee on this occasion.

Eager to clear up any confusion, he explained: "The ball hit the post and bounced out before I got my hand to it, so it could not possibly have crossed the line."

Debate will continue to rage in the face of inconclusive video evidence, but City will no doubt prefer to reflect on a spirited performance which suggests better days to come after a week to forget.