Bristol City 2 Doncaster Rovers 5: City's chastened players are facing a test of character which will almost certainly define their season and, in some cases, their Ashton Gate futures.

As severe as it was unexpected, this shocking setback at the hands of one of the Championship's more unfashionable sides serves to throw the immediate future into uncomfortably sharp focus.

Given that nine teams are still looking up at the Robins, who are five points clear of third-from-bottom Sheffield Wednesday, there is no immediate cause for panic. But that situation could change dramatically by the end of a demanding month which requires Gary Johnson's men to play a further six times.

A confidence-sapping home defeat on such a scale is hardly ideal preparation for a sequence of three consecutive fixtures on the road in the space of eight days against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace, Reading and Plymouth Argyle.

Quite simply, unless City improve on their modest away record, they could find themselves mired in a full-scale relegation battle by the time the Newcastle United promotion bandwagon rolls into to Bristol 13 days from now.

When trounced 6-0 in front of their own fans by play-off contenders Cardiff City in January, it was possible to dismiss the result and performance as a one-off. But a second defeat of such magnitude, this time against opponents in mid-table, is sure to cause manager Johnson, chairman Steve Lansdown and the players sleepless nights.

Not since the club suffered relegation from the second tier at the end of the previous decade has City suffered such heavy reverses on home soil.

True, the manner in which they recovered from the Cardiff debacle, beating West Brom and holding Ipswich and Leicester, suggests they have the wherewithal to come back from adversity once more. But the manager and his coaching staff have an almighty task on their hands if they are to affect an upturn in fortunes during what promises to be a difficult week, involving as it does three away games against opponents hell-bent on closing the gap between themselves and a team which appears once more to be hazardously positioned on the brink of potential freefall.

City still have to play a majority of the teams below them in the table and remain very much masters of their own destiny. Yet confidence, or rather the more or less complete absence of it by the end of this one-sided contest, is an issue which has to be addressed and quickly.

Johnson will resort to his considerable skills as a man manager and motivator to lift his troops and now is the moment when his senior professionals must be strong, because City will need resolute leaders, not shrinking violets, in the weeks ahead.

Certainly leadership and clarity of purpose were difficult to discern as a Doncaster side, expertly schooled in the art of pass and move football, made a mockery of City's perceived recovery. Although Sean O'Driscoll's side deserve credit for their insistence on keeping the ball on the floor and moving it with accuracy and pace, they were made to look even better than they were by opponents who resembled strangers at times. City simply forgot how to defend as a team, a collective malaise which enabled Rovers to score far more easily than they should have done.

Shell-shocked supporters were forced to endure the sight of red-shirted team-mates running into one another and multiple players challenging for the same ball. Afforded little or no protection from a midfield which clearly missed the physical presence of the injured Marvin Elliott, the back four suffered a seizure which rendered individuals incapable of marking their men and putting a foot in. Indeed, at times it appeared as though tackling had been outlawed in BS3 as Rovers were given the freedom of Ashton Gate.

Sure, City endured the worst possible start when, after just 90 seconds, Billy Sharp was allowed to skip past three half-hearted tackles and square the ball to Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, whose finish was too good for exposed goalkeeper Dean Gerken. But there was no excuse when the defensive ranks again went missing to permit the unattended Sharp to convert John Oster's cross from close range.

To their credit, City twice fought back to equalise, right-back Bradley Orr timing his arrival at the far post to perfection to apply finishing touches to two wonderful crosses from winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce in the ninth and 15th minutes.

Had Nicky Maynard's searing drive dipped a couple of inches lower rather than cannoning off the crossbar a few minutes later, jittery City might have settled and the outcome could have been very different.

Reduced to quivering wrecks whenever a high ball came into their penalty area, Doncaster sensibly played to their strengths, declining to challenge big targetman Chris Iwelumo and instead focusing on winning the second ball more often than not.

City, it seemed, had learned nothing from that manic opening 15 minutes and their defenders continued to be terrorised by Billy and the kid. A seasoned goal poacher, Sharp proved too quick for centre-back Lewin Nyatanga, reacting speedily to Neil Sullivan's long clearance and a deft flick from Emmanuel-Thomas to move goal-side of his dumbfounded marker and beat Gerken with slide-rule precision from just inside the 18-yard box.

Deployed in a withdrawn role behind Sharp and given licence to wander, Arsenal teenager Emmanuel-Thomas, signed on loan a week before and making his Rovers debut, caused havoc in the wide open spaces which existed between City's midfield and back four.

His second goal arrived two minutes before half-time and effectively sealed the home side's fate. Once again, Rovers profited from rank poor defending, two City players going for the same ball and allowing Emmanuel-Thomas two bites of the cherry, his second shot flying beneath Gerken and into the middle of the goal.

If City fans were to entertain thoughts of a fight-back, then their side had to score the next goal. Sure enough, Orr put the ball into the net, but at the wrong end of the pitch to register an own goal and an unwanted hat-trick.

Having seen the right-back carry the fight to the visitors, it was difficult not to feel sympathy for him as his attempt to clear Oster's deep cross sliced off the top of his boot and into the roof of the net to render the outcome a foregone conclusion.

All over the place in defence, City were spared an even heavier defeat only by poor finishing and the heroics of their goalkeeper, who made a series of startling saves to limit the damage. Just how much damage has been inflicted will be seen when City take on Palace at Selhurst Park tomorrow night.