Dave Penney, looking back on Rovers' mid-table league placing at the end of 2004, has said that poor finishing in front of goal has cost Rovers dear. Despite performances good enough to win many matches, chances have been squandered, with a typical example being Wednesday's game at Hull, in which Hull boss Peter Taylor conceded that Rovers were unlucky to come out of the match pointless.
Penney said: "Our position is a true reflection of where we are - we can beat the teams below us but not those above," Penney said after the 2-1 defeat at Hull. That's been the story of our season so far. We have to go a step further and be more composed in front of goal. If we were more clinical we would have got something against Hull. Even going 2-1 down late on we had chances."

Despite information on the Rovers official site to the contrary, tickets are available in advance for tomorrow's away game at Walsall. Whilst the game is also pay-on-the-gate, it is also possible to buy tickets in advance, with a £2 discount available for advance purchases.
However, tickets are NOT available from Doncaster, but as a result of the confusion over the advance purchase discount for visiting fans, Walsall have agreed to open their ticket office specially today until 4 o'clock.
Fans who want to get the £2 discount can therefore still do so by ringing 01922 651400.
Tickets for the William Sharp Stand, where away supporters will be housed, are:
Adults £15.00 (advance price), £17.00 (matchday price).
Concessions £10.00 (advance price), £12.00 (matchday price)

Paul Mayfield is currently holding a sixth coach for the Walsall game tomorrow, but will have to cancel it later today if there are no more fans requiring to travel with the Supporters' Club.

Anyone wishing to travel should therefore contact Paul URGENTLY on his mobile, 07740453066. Please do NOT leave it until tonight, as it will be too late. Please do not ring Paul's home telephone number as there will be no-one there who can transmit the message to Paul in time.

Former Rovers midfielder David Jones has signed for UniBond Premier League club Bridlington Town from Armthorpe Welfare, where he has been for about the last year. His previous clubs include Goole Town (twice), Rovers, Blackpool and Frickley Athletic.

Rovers put up a great show this evening as they continued their improved form against an in-form Hull City at the KC Stadium. Despite going behind in the 21st minute, Rovers roared back at the Tigers and deservedly equalised on the stroke of half time with a wondrous free kick from Dave Mulligan. They had their chances to win the game in the second half, but a defensive lapse five minutes from time gave Hull the chance to score the winner.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed, and the result will be announced later this evening. Thank you to everyone who took part in the last vote of 2004.

With ten players receiving votes in the "Man of the Match" poll for the Milton Keynes game on Boxing Day, we had a clear winner, with Simon Johnson winning almost 43% of the votes cast. The leading votes were cast as follows:
1 Simon Johnson (42.86%)
2 James Coppinger (12.86%)
3 Mark Albrighton (11.42%)
4 Paul Green, Michael McIndoe (8.57%)
Thank you to everyone who took part in the voting, and apologize for the delay in publishing the result, which was due to circumstances beyone our control. The vote for the away game at Hull City on Wednesday evening remains open until noon on Friday, 31st December.

Former Rovers striker Graeme Jones has left Bury after being released from his contract. He has appeared just three times since joining from Boston United in the summer. He is reported to be about to make a move back to Scotland, with Cyde boss Billy Reid confirming that he has been looking at Jones recently.

Hull City have reported that they have sold all the tickets for the home parts of the ground for this evening's game against Doncaster Rovers.
Rovers are reporting that they have around 500 tickets left, and these will go on sale at Belle Vue at 10am this morning, and remain on sale until 4pm this afternoon. No tickets will be on sale in Hull this evening, so please do not travel if you do not have a ticket.
Ticket prices for the match are: Adults £16.00, Concessions £9.00. There are a limited number of wheelchair/carer tickets available at £9 for the wheelchair user (the carer ticket is free).
Please remember that Humberside Police have advised that all Rovers supporters will be kept in the ground for around ten minutes after the game tonight to enable Hull supporters to disperse from the area outside the away end.

Dave Penney has no new injury or suspensions to consider for this evening's game at the KC Stadium, with all players reporting in fit after Sunday's home victory over MK Dons. This means the only absentees will be Simon Marples, and longer term injury casualties Leo Fortune-West, Nic Priet and Ben Jackson.
Hull City have a fully fit squad to select from tonight, with the only doubt, Nick Barmby, having recovered from a slight hamstring strain which forced his substitution in Boxing Day's game at Blackpool.
There will be full match commentary of the match on BBC Radio Sheffield, with "Football Heaven" starting at 6pm.

The Supporters Club are running coaches to the away game at Walsall on Saturday 1st January 2005.
Coaches will leave Retford at 9.45am, Bawtry 10.00, Hare & Tortoise 10.15, Punches 10.20, Doncaster Royal Infirmary 10.30 and Belle Vue 10.15am.
A separate coach will leave Carcroft Club at 10.15am, Bentley 10.20, Don Valley (Jossey Lane) 10.25 and Woodlands (opp. Cooplands) 10.30am.
The fare for all coaches will be:
Members: Adults: £10.00, OAP’s: £9.00, U16’s: £8.00
Non-members : £12.00, U16’s: £10.00
Please contact Len South (01302 817347), Paul Mayfield (01427 880154) or Warren Hanson (North Doncaster) on 01302 337303 or 07787 926809.

Dave Penney spoke of his pleasure at the performance of his side in Boxing Day's 3-0 victory over Milton Keynes Dons, with was Rovers' first victory in six games. Penney said: "We played well and when we do that we are a very difficult team to compete with. It was a big test for us after losing to Sheffield Wednesday last week and I think we passed with flying colours. We should have had more goals to show for our efforts but I'm not grumbling."

With only one match to go before the end of 2004, the prospect of the Viking Supporters' Club's "Coin Trail" breaking through the £25,000 tomorrow evening looks a good bet. With over £250 taken in the Viking Supporters' Bar before the MK Dons game on Boxing Day, a total of £538.70 was raised, taking the total to £24,927.88. Thank you to everyone who has contributed this year - as you know, all money goes towards the costs of running the Youth Team.

With a number of games called off due to the freezing weather conditions, with the UniBond leagues a notable casualty, the number of former Rovers players scoring goals on Boxing Day were fewer than usual.
In the Championship, Brian Deane scored Leeds' second goal as they inflicted a surprising home defeat on Sunderland. In the Conference, Neil Redfearn scored twice for Scarborough as they thrashed York City 5-1 at the McCain Stadium. Dino Maamria scored from the penalty spot for Stevenage as they defeated leaders Barnet 2-1, although the leaders again had to contend with being a man short for half of the match.

Dave Penney made five changes to the starting line-up for the Boxing Day game at Belle Vue against Milton Keynes Dons. Rovers named the defence that carried them to the Division Three title for the first time this season, and they responded with an assured defensive display that kept a clean sheet since mid-October, when they drew 0-0 at Chesterfield. Whilst the Dons contributed to their own downfall with one of the best own goals seen in a long time after just eight mintues, Rovers at times threatened to inundate their poor side. Simon Roberts was played as a central striker for the first time since joining Rovers, and responded with two goals, albeit both from tap-ins from just three yards out.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed. Thank you to everyone who has voted. The result will be revealed on Wednesday morning, and the next vote will follow tomorow evening's game against Hull City.

Rovers defender Tim Ryan picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against MK Dons yesterday afternoon, and therefore will be suspended for the home game against AFC Bournemouth on 3rd January.

BBC Radio Sheffield will be providing a full match commentary of the Rovers' away game at Hull City on Wednesday, 29 December. Match coverage will be provided on 88.6, 94.7 and 104.1FM and, no doubt, via their web site. The match kicks off at 7.45pm.

Rovers have reported that the dugouts at the training ground have been destroyed, and the groundsman's shed damaged, by a group of people during Christmas Day night. Six people are now in police custody after being arrested nearby, with the police investigating the scene yesterday.

Rovers skipper Steve Foster looks set to return to the side ahead of schedule for today's home game against Milton Keynes Dons. Right back Simon Marples also is reported to have recovered from a groin injury that prevented him from training earlier in the week, and winger James Coppinger also is likely to be back in the starting line-up. Another welcome return comes with the news that Mark Albrighton is fit to play - will Albrighton and Foster be given the chance in place of Fenton and Morley today?

MK Dons will be missing Wade Small due to suspension, and Malvin Kamara will be absent due to injury, although he hopes to be sufficiently recovered for their game against Blackpool next week. They will have two new faces in their side for today's game. Crystal Palace midfielder Anthonly Danze has joined on a one-month loan from Crystal Palace, and becomes the fourth Australian to have played for the club this season. Goalkeeper Mathew Baker is also very likely to be included in the Dons squad after his transfer from Wrexham last week. Ben Harding is also set to return to the side after a successful comeback in last week's reserve team game after recovering from a knee ligament injury.
Another new face for the Dons this afternoon will be that of Ian Bowyer, who joined MK Dons as Danny Wilson's assistant manager. Bowyer was, until recently first team coach at Nottingham Forest, where he had previously played well over 500 games.

The Supporters Club are running coaches to the away game at Hull City on Wednesday, 29th December.
They will leave Retford at 4.30pm, Bawtry 4.45, the Hare & Tortoise 4.50pm, Punches Hotel 4.55, Doncaster Royal Infirmary 4.45 and Belle Vue at 5pm
Another coach, run by the North Doncaster Branch, will leave Carcroft Village Club at 4.45pm, Bentley 4.50, Don Valley (Jossey Lane) 4.55 and Woodlands (opposite Cooplands) at 5pm.
The fare for all coaches will be:
Members: Adults £7.00, OAP's £6.00, Under-16's £5.00
Non-members £9.00, Under-16's £7.00
Please contact Len South (01302 817347), Paul Mayfield (01427 880154) or Warren Hanson (North Doncaster) on 01302 337303 or 07787 926809.

We would like to wish all Rovers supporters a very Happy Christmas, and take this opportunity to thank you all for another great year, which has made this web site even more successful than last season. May Santa have brought you everything that you wanted!

Former Rovers left back Kevin McIntyre, now described as a wing-back, is set to complete a transfer from Chester City to Macclesfield Town ahead of tomorrow's away game against Grimsby, and has been allocated the number 30 shirt by Silkmen boss Brian Horton.
McIntyre has lost his first team place at Chester this season, after playing over 100 games for then, and helped them to the Conference title last season.

Band Aid 20's "Do they know it's Christmas" may be the Christmas number one, but Rovers could be set for an appearance in the top thirty if the ideas of Nathan Denton, a former football commercial manager, are anything to go by. They will be backed by Godfather Productions, who will be basing the double A-side around crowd samples recorded during last years' promotion season.
Supporters are being asked to give their opinions as to which songs they would like to hear on the CD. Anyone with suggestions for the song to be used should email email info@dentonmedia.co.uk
The single is due out on February 7th, and will be available at HMV.

Rovers have reported that over 2,500 of the 3,400 tickets allocated for the away game at Hull City next Wednesday have already been sold, making it certain that the game will be a virtual full house, with Hull reporting that only 1,200 tickets for the home areas remain unsold.
The news strengthens Hull's plans for a 10,000 extension to the stadium, although work will not start until 2006 at the earliest. Hull increased their season ticket sales from 6,600 last season to 9,800 this season.

Rovers manager, Dave Penney, is appealing for the Rovers fans to help get his side over the humiliating home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday when they face Milton Keynes Dons at Belle Vue on Sunday. "It's also important that our fans get behind us and give us a lift. We've given them plenty to cheer about over the years so now I hope they can do us a favour."
Dave is confident that his players will respond in the right way for the Boxing Day match, so that they can banish the memories of the Wednesday game.

The Supporters Club are running coaches to the away game at Walsall on Saturday 1st January 2005.
Coaches will leave Retford at 9.45am, Bawtry 10.00, Hare & Tortoise 10.15, Punches 10.20, Doncaster Royal Infirmary 10.30 and Belle Vue 10.15am.
A separate coach will leave Carcroft Club at 10.15am, Bentley 10.20, Don Valley (Jossey Lane) 10.25 and Woodlands (opp. Cooplands) 10.30am.
The fare for all coaches will be:
Members: Adults: £10.00, OAP’s: £9.00, U16’s: £8.00
Non-members : £12.00, U16’s: £10.00
Please contact Len South (01302 817347), Paul Mayfield (01427 880154) or Warren Hanson (North Doncaster) on 01302 337303 or 07787 926809.

The medals for the 125 Club have finally been received by Rovers, and anyone who has joined the 125 Club can collect them from the club office. The commemorative certificates have yet to be signed by John Ryan, who is currently on holiday, and will be posted out after the Christmas break.
125 Club members will also be able to order a special "125 Club" Rovers shirt, which will cost £35.

The Rovers offices and club shop will close at 1pm today, and remain closed on Christmas Day. They will be open for the match on Sunday, but then closed again on Monday and Tuesday, 27th/28th December. Both will also be closed next weekend, 1st/2nd January.

Dave Penney is looking forward to the second half of the season in which he hopes that his side will improve their league position which took a dent after Sunday's defeat. He is looking for his side to bounce back for the next couple of games, against Milton Keynes Dons and Hull City. He said: "We were doing well up to the weekend's game, we had good results at Luton and Swindon recently, we were in a nice position and a win could have seen us move into ninth position."
Rovers have been working hard on rebuilding the morale after Sunday's disappointing showing, with Penney saying: "We have worked hard over this week to raise the confidence and look at which players can bounce back."

Former Rovers midfielder Alan Morgan, now player/manager at Welsh Premier League club NEWI Cefn Druids, has resigned as manager following his side's 7-0 hammering at Caersws last Saturday. After the match, Morgan said: "In the last four games we played well without getting results and I thought we could turn the corner. But Saturday's performance was awful and very few players were prepared to stand up and be counted. After the game, I felt it was in the best interests of the club for me to step down."
Morgan took over the reins in the summer after Steve O'Shaughnessy was sacked, but has been unable to improve either the results or their poor disciplinary record.
"It's really disappointing as I enjoyed being manager, but perhaps this job came too early for me," he added.
Morgan is to continue at the club as a player.

Former Doncaster Rovers striker Colin Cramb may miss the whole set of festive fixtures after injuring his ankle in Grimsby's draw against Oxford last Friday. Grimsby boss Russell Slade said: "Colin went over on his ankle and we are going to have to wait and see whether or not it is his ligaments."
Grimsby have confirmed that they are interested in signing Torquay striker Martin Gritton after Blackpool failed to agree terms.

Tickets for the seated areas of the Main Stand for the home games against Milton Keynes Dons (26th December) and Bournemouth (3rd January) are now on sale from the Rovers ticket office at Belle Vue.
Tickets for the seats for the home game against Port Vale on 8th January will go on sale next Wednesday (29th December)
These matches are NOT all-ticket, and will be pay on the day for all terraced areas.
The ticket office is open weekdays between 10am and 4pm.
However, the ticket office will close at 1pm on Friday 24th December, and at 2.15pm on Boxing Day.
Apart from that, Rovers have indicated that the ticket office will be open during their normal hours over the Christmas period.

The Rovers will be opening the Viking Supporters' Bar from 3pm on Wednesday, 29th December for supporters to congregate before the supporters club coaches leave at around 5pm. All fans are welcome to use the facilities - whether they wish to have a drink or not.
Hull City's Independent Supporters' Club have invited Rovers fans who can show they are members of either the Supporters' Club or the VSC (by showing membership cards) at their club house, the "Tiger's Lair", which is at 64 Anlaby Road and is about a ten minute walk from the stadium. Beer is £1.75 a pint, and hot food will also be available.

The Supporters Club are running coaches to the away game at Hull City on Wednesday, 29th December.
They will leave Retford at 4.30pm, Bawtry 4.45, the Hare & Tortoise 4.50pm, Punches Hotel 4.55, Doncaster Royal Infirmary 4.45 and Belle Vue at 5pm
Another coach, run by the North Doncaster Branch, will leave Carcroft Village Club at 4.45pm, Bentley 4.50, Don Valley (Jossey Lane) 4.55 and Woodlands (opposite Cooplands) at 5pm.
The fare for all coaches will be:
Members: Adults £7.00, OAP's £6.00, Under-16's £5.00
Non-members £9.00, Under-16's £7.00
Please contact Len South (01302 817347), Paul Mayfield (01427 880154) or Warren Hanson (North Doncaster) on 01302 337303 or 07787 926809.

It was a close battle for who you voted as the "Man of the Match" for Sunday's home game against Sheffield Wednesday. Bearing in mind the disappointing result, we were pleasantly surprised by how many people voted, although the opinion was very varied as to who to vote for, although perhaps the fact that a substitute that only played 39 minutes won your vote says much of the afternoon! A total of eleven out of the fourteen players used received votes, with the leading votes being cast as follows:
1 James Coppinger (20.0%)
2 Simon Marples (17.78%)
3 Neil Roberts (15.56%)
4 Paul Green (13.33%)
5 Michael McIndoe (11.11%)
Thank you to everyone who voted - the next vote will follow Boxing Day's home game against Milton Keynes Dons.

Dave Penney has promised that changes will be made to the side that played against Sheffield Wednesday after Rovers surrendered their eleven month unbeaten home league record on Sunday. He conceded that the visitors fully deserved their win, although much of that was down to Rovers' failure to follow the manager's instructions. "Nothing went right, everything that could go wrong, did. We never got the ball down and passed it, and nobody looked like they wanted to," he said.
He said that he had told all of the side "not to expect to play on Boxing Day" - although he later conceded that it merely meant that each player could not take their place for granted, rather than a mass clear out.

The Popular Stand fanzine is appealing for contributions to the next issue, with a deadline for submisisons being 29th December. If you have any songs, pictures, articles, cartoons etc., please send them to fanzine@inboxnews.co.uk.

A presentation was made to Francis Tierney, who has been forced to give up full time football due to injury, before Sunday's home game against Sheffield Wednesday. He was presented with a framed photograph of his "Golden Goal" at Stoke in the Conference play-off final, and also a certificate granting him life membership of the Viking Supporters' Co-operative. The presentation was made on behalf of all Rovers fans by Gareth Thomas.

The review of former Rovers players scoring goals this weekend begins in the Conference North, where Rod Thornley scored for Altrincham as they defeated Southport 2-1. neil Grayson scored one of the Stafford Rangers goals as they defeated Stalybridge Celtic 2-1.
In the Conference National, Tristram Whitman may not have scored for Tamworth as they inflicted only the second league defeat on leaders Barnet, but he was the player that broke the deadlock by being fouled in the 22nd minute to win a penalty. Barnet's Simon King was sent off for the infringement, which didn't help his team-mates as they went down 3-0.
Dino Maamria scored for the second weekend in a row as he scored one of Stevenage's three goals as they won at Burton Albion. Neil Redfearn scored with a 21st minute free kick for Scarborough, but the Seadogs still went down 3-1 at Exeter City.
One goal to mention in League Two - Colin Cramb scored for Grimsby Town as they drew 1-1 at home to Oxford United.

Former Doncaster Rovers goalkeeper Neville Southall has been appointed as the manager of Ryman League club Hastings United, following the departure of Steve Lovell recently.
Southall resigned as maanger of the Welsh Under-19 side before the appointment of John Toshack as the new Welsh manager, claiming that he had been treated with "a total lack of respect" by the Football Association of Wales.
A naturally delighted chairman David Walters said: “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Neville Southall as our new manager and hope that his time at the club proves to be successful and enjoyable for all concerned. I have been greatly impressed with the ideas Neville has already come up with to take the club forward and am really looking forward to working alongside him to bring success to the club. His first game will be a watching brief for the Hastings Senior Cup tie against Sidley United on December 21st. He will then take charge for the match at Ashford Town on December 27th, where ex-England international Terry Fenwick is the current manager."

The home undefeated League record, which had stood for eleven months, was always bound to go one day - but the manner in which Rovers went down in this South Yorkshire derby was particularly disappointing. Wednesday had clearly done their homework on the Rovers side, and preyed on the aerial frailties of Nick Fenton and Dave Morley, both of whom had afternoons they will wish to forget in a hurry. Undoubtedly this was the worst Rovers home performance in a long time, and hopefully they will bounce back in style on Boxing Day against Milton Keynes.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to vote - especially bearing in mind the hugely disappointing performance! The result will be announced on Tuesday morning.

Please remember that there will be no tickets on sale today for the Sheffield Wednesday match. We therefore appeal to anyone who has not got a ticket for the game not to travel to the match.
Rovers will also be opening the gates early for today's game, to try and avoid the congestion which would otherwise happen with a capacity crowd. Please help by getting to Belle Vue a little earlier than normal.
Both clubs, as well as the South Yorkshire Police, have warned that any Wednesday fans who are found in the home areas will be ejected from Belle Vue and may face being banned from all grounds in South Yorkshire.

Rovers manager Dave Penney is looking forward to today's game against Sheffield Wednesday - the first league match between the two clubs in almost 50 years. A win will propel Rovers into tenth place in the league table - their highest placing since mid-September. Penney said: "I'm looking forward to the game, we haven't played them for a long time and it's important to the fans, just like the other derbies we have against the likes of Barnsley and Hull. The game will be huge and the atmosphere will be great, we're playing well at home and we will get over 10,000 fans into Belle Vue for the first time in a long time cheering us on. But they're all big games and we'll make sure we're up for it as usual."
He then appealed for his side to start turning some of the draws achieved recently into victories. He said: " We've had three tough games recently against teams above us in the table, including the leaders, and drawn them all. That shows we can match the best in this division. Now we have to go one step further and start beating some of them."

Sheffield Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock thinks that if his side treat today's game like a cup tie, they can deny Rovers their first-ever league victory over the Owls. However, he fully recognises that Rovers, unbeaten at home, will present a formidable test, with Wednesday going into the game on the back of two consecutive defeats.
Sturrock said: "It's going to be a very difficult one for us. Doncaster pride themselves on their home performances. I saw Doncaster against Barnsley win 3-1 at Oakwell. They played very well, and they have a settled side."
Of today's game, he said: "We have to treat tomorrow like a cup-tie, with the work-rate and attitude at 100 per cent. If we do that, I'm very confident we'll get a result."
We agree, Mr Sturrock. Remember that a defeat is "a result", just as is a draw or a win!

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative will be handing over another cheque for £10,000 to Doncaster Rovers before this afternoon's game, as part of their ongoing commitment to put funds into the club. Andy Webb, known to many as "Rigo", will be making the presentation to either Trevor Milton or Stuart Highfield, in the absence of John Ryan from today's game.

We are glad to report that, following the news from earlier this week that Francis Tierney has been forced to retire from playing full-time football, Franny will be making a farewell on the pitch before Sunday's game against Sheffield Wednesday. A presentation of a framed print of the "golden goal" will be presented to him, as a measure of thanks from Rovers fans for his part in sealing promotion from the Conference in May 2003.

Rovers are reporting no major injury worries for tomorrow's home game against Sheffield Wednesday, with Ricky Ravenhill, Simon Marples, James Coppinger and Steve Foster all training yesterday. However, although Steve Foster played an hour of Wednesday's reserve team game against Lincoln City, he is unlikely to make a return to the side for this game.
Ravenhill, Marples and Coppinger are all likely to be included in the squad for the game, which will see Rovers climb above their near neighbours should they emerge victorious.

Sheffield Wednesday have signed 20-year old utility player Kenwyne Jones on a one-month loan from Southampton, and he will be included in their squad as they bid to stop a three match losing sequence.They will be without top scorer Adam Proudlock, Chris Marsden, Lewis McMahon, Paul Smith and Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu all out with injury. Added to that, Patrick Collins (hamstring) and Guy Branston (knee) are all very doubtful, but will have fitness checks before Paul Sturrock names his side.

Former Rovers player/manager Kerry Dixon has returned to Southern Premier League club Dunstable Town after a 24 year absence. Dixon played for Dunstable after being released by Tottenham as a youngster, before he went on to make his name as a prolific goalscorer at Reading.
Kerry resigned as manager at nearby Hitchin Town last week after finding it difficult to combine his media jobs with the managerial duties at the club, but has been brought into Dunstable to help out manager Paul Reeves.

Former Doncaster Rovers boss Joe Kinnear resigned as manager at Nottingham Forest yesterday after ten months in the job. Kinnear arrived late last season and improved their fortunes sufficiently to avoid relegation from what is now the Championship, but they have struggled again this season. Whilst still having the backing of the chairman, who asked him to stay until the end of the season, but continual criticism from past Forest players, along with the poor results, were eventually too much. Kinnear, who was boss at Belle Vue for thirteen matches in 1989 following Dave Mackay's dismissal, wants caretaker boss Mick Harford and Des Walker to be the new management team.

With a capacity attendance being expected at Belle Vue on Sunday, the Viking Supporters Co-operative are appealing for some extra volunteers to help with the collection. If anyone can help, even if only for a short time before the game, please contact Andy Liney, who will be collecting in the car park from about 10.45am to 11.45am - or ring him on 01777 703757 to arrange the collection of a collecting bucket/pot.

The new book about the Rovers' first championship season (1934/35), entitled "First Time Champions" is now on sale in the Bawtry Road branch of ASDA, as well as the Doncaster Town Centre branch of WH Smiths. We understand that there has been a significant demand at ASDA, and apologize on behalf of the respective parties for the delay in them going on sale in the store, which has been due to an administrative delay on their part.
The books, priced at £9.95, will also be on sale in the Supporters Club shop on Sunday.

Hull City have issued a "Public Safety Notice" to all Rovers fans who will be attending the match at the KC Stadium on the Wednesday after Christmas. They advise that they are asking all Rovers fans to remain seated for five to ten minutes after the end of the game, which is to allow the Hull supporters to be dispersed from the area outside the away exits from the ground. They have also warned that anyone attending the match who is drunk will be ejected from the ground.
Rovers fans were kept in the ground for about 20 minutes following the end of their visit to Hull last Christmas.

The Rovers are still advertising that tickets for Sunday's home game against Sheffield Wednesday are on sale from the ticket office. Tickets are only on sale in the Town End and Popular Stand areas, and are obviously only for sale to Rovers fans. Tickets are still at a maximum of two per person, and you must bring some proof of address when purchasing your tickets. Should any remain unsold at the end of today, they advise that the ticket office will be open tomorrow morning between 9am and noon.

Doncaster Rovers manager is keeping his fingers crossed for a prosperous Christmas period as Rovers seek to strengthen their position in League One. With good away draws at Swindon and Luton, and unbeaten in the last four games, Penney is looking to narrow the four point gap between Rovers and the play-off positions.
Penney is happy with the way thing are going this season, but stressed: "Christmas is always a vital time so we will get our next three games out of the way and see where we are after that."

Rovers striker Leo Fortune-West is reportedly ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery six weeks ago. However, Rovers' physio Barrie Windle still thinks that Leo is a minimum of three months away from returning to action.
Windle said: "For a six-week post-operation progress report he's doing pretty well. He's doing aqua therapy and work in the gym but he can't put pressure on it if he wants it to heal properly. I'll leave it seven weeks before we step up his programme. We don't want to rush him back as he could have serious repercussions if we do. We have also had to think about the psychological affects on the big man. He's concerned about his future and his contract and he wants to get back as soon as possible. But Leo's a very good pro and will do things properly."

Former Rovers striker Jack Lester will not play again this season after being carried off with a cruciate ligament injury on Saturday, in what was only his third game since returning to Nottingham Forest from Sheffield United.
Manager Joe Kinnear said: "It's a terrible blow for the lad and the club. He had settled straight back in after returning. He made the kind of impact we hoped he would. Then this happens."