Dean Saunders saw doomed Doncaster lose 2-1 at home to Burnley on Monday and then blamed injuries and a hectic Championship schedule.
Saunders' men went down to the Clarets at the Keepmoat Stadium to leave them 11 points from safety at the foot of the table with only four games remaining.
Rovers' four-year stay in the second tier will end if they fail to record a first home win since January 2 against fellow strugglers Portsmouth on Saturday.
A home team sheet displaying nine changes from Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Leicester and winger Fabien Robert as the only Saunders signing in the XI prompted suggestions that a decision had been taken to jettison the raft of high-profile short-term signings brought in under the watch of agent Willie McKay, but the manager confirmed the reality afterwards.
"The whole team's injured," he said. "I don't know how it's fair that we can have a day to recover where Burnley have two.
"I've got some players where, if they game was tomorrow, they might have been all right.
"Carl Ikeme has torn a ligament in his big toe, (Pascal) Chimbonda's torn his hamstring, (Frederic) Piquionne pulled his hamstring at Leicester, (El-Hadji) Diouf pulled his hamstring at Leicester.
"Habib Beye's got an ankle (injury) that he's been playing with and he couldn't play because of the swelling not going down - if the game had been tomorrow he might have been all right.
"Five of our better players are injured and, if you include Shelton Martis, Paul Keegan and Martin Woods, we've got a full team there that might have got a starting spot.
"We had a run of games Saturday, Tuesday, Friday and playing Leicester has finished a few of them off.
"It's an accumulation of having tired on top of tired and having to scrap for points. Eventually something's got to give."
On his side's incredibly slim survival chances, Saunders added: "We're not going to give up. We don't need snookers yet but we're not far off. We've got four games left, but we've still got a chance of staying in the Championship - a slight chance."
On-loan Millwall winger Josh McQuoid netted his first Burnley goal with a superb 30-yard volley to give the visitors a half-time lead and Charlie Austin's penalty 14 minutes from time sealed the points after Doncaster striker Chris Brown - who played despite failing a fitness test on Monday morning - nodded his side level.
Clarets manager Eddie Howe was delighted with his team's all-round display and felt they could have enjoyed an easier afternoon but for some errant decisions around the Rovers' area.
"I thought we were excellent," he said. "First half we got into some great positions with some great counter-attacking football.
"We shot from distance an awful lot, much to my frustration on the sideline because I felt some of our decision making in the final third could have been better.
"I think if it was we'd have won by a more comfortable scoreline, but in the end it's a really good win.
"They scored out of nothing really and it was a big test for us. Thankfully we responded really well, got a second wind and fully deserved the win."
