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| February 28, 2006 |
Rovers 0 Brentford 0 |
 |
Somehow Rovers didn't
score tonight - they had plenty of chances, the ball was scrambled off the
line, hit the woodwork, but somehow it wouldn't go over the line. After an
opening twenty minutes when some "strange" refereeing decisions
seemed to go against Rovers, eventually the referee became wise to Brentford's
antics and the game improved. Brenford's expected aerial and physical bombardment
was non-stop - when they got the ball down on the ground you could understand
why they keep the ball in the air - they were that poor! It took them until
well into the second half before they landed their first shot on target,
and that was a 20-yard effort comfortably dealt with by Budtz. |
| February 28, 2006 |
Rovers v Brentford |
 |
Doncaster Rovers will
have to change the line-up of their defence for this evening's home game
against promotion-chasing Brentford, as central defender David Wheater is
on duty with the England Under-19 squad. Rovers may also have to make a change
at left back as Sean McDaid picked up a knee injury which caused his substitution
at half time of Saturday's game at Hartlepool United. However, there has
been no update from Rovers, so there is the hope that McDaid will recover
in time. If he is ruled out, there are several options that Rovers may look
at - Michael McIndoe could play in a more defensive wing-back role than usual,
the experienced Kevin Horlock could fill in for one match at left back -
or Dave Mulligan could move to left back, with a similar shuffle on the right
of the Rovers defence. Simon Marples has been back in full training for a
couple of weeks, but we do not expect that he will be played until he has
played at least one reserve team game. |
| February 28, 2006 |
Could you help out Rovers? |
.jpg){kind=small} |
Doncaster Rovers are
looking for some supporters who could help them by providing bed and breakfast
accommodation for two trialists from Australia (aged 18 and 19) who are currently
with the club for approximately two weeks. |
| February 28, 2006 |
Win a player for the Rovers |
 |
Please remember that
you can help to win £250,000 for Doncaster Rovers in Coca Cola's "Win
a Player" competition, which runs for just over another month. Doncaster
Rovers are currently in 46th place with 6,113 votes, just behind Stoke City,
who have a further 68 votes. Brentford, this evening's visitors to Belle
Vue, are in 35th place, with 8,012 votes. |
| February 28, 2006 |
Brevett to Leicester |
 |
Just over a week after the deal looked to have failed, Leicester City confirmed yesterday that former Doncaster Rovers defender Rufus Brevett has signed for Championship side Leicester City on loan for an initial month. Brevett has been unable to hold down a regular first team place at Plymouth Argyle this season after moving from West Ham United last summer. |
| February 28, 2006 |
Votes results |
 |
The superb strike by
Ross McCormack at the end of Saturday's away game at Hartlepool United helped
give the on-loan Rangers striker a clear victory in the latest "Man
of the Match" voting results. A total of ten Rovers players received
nominations, with the leading votes being cast as follows: |
| February 27, 2006 |
Rovers hope to extend loans |
 |
Dave Penney is hoping
to extend the loan periods for David Wheater and Kevin Horlock after both
have settled in well and played a key part in the recent improvement in the
form of his Rovers side. Both are about half way through their initial one
month loan periods at Belle Vue, but Penney has already asked Middlesbrough
and Ipswich Town respectively if the loans can be extended when they run
out. |
| February 27, 2006 |
McCormack pulls out of Scotland squad |
| |
After the news last
week that Ross McCormack had been released from the Scotland under-21 squad,
it now turns out that McCormack asked to be withdrawn from the squad so that
he could help Rovers in their push for the play-off places. Whilst the Scotland
match is only a friendly, it still shows a great commitment by Ross to the
Rovers cause, and is one that Rovers fans should appreciate. |
| February 27, 2006 |
Penney praises Ross's rocket |
 |
Rovers manager Dave
Penney has praised the wonder-strike from 35 yards by Ross McCormack that
earned Rovers a valuable point at Hartlepool on Saturday. |
| February 27, 2006 |
Rovers v Brentford |
| |
Tomorrow's home match
against Brentford is NOT all-ticket, and admission to all areas except the
main stand seating (tickets for this area must be bought from the ticket
office) will be on the turnstile. |
| February 25, 2006 |
Hartlepool United 1 Rovers 1 |
| |
Another last minute
goal by Ross McCormack earned Rovers a point this afternoon at Hartlepool,
after they had gone behind to a 20th minute goal by Adam Boyd, which was
from Hartlepool's first penetrating attack of the afternoon. McCormack's
goal might have been late, but when it came it was was a beauty - a 35 yard
unstoppable shot. |
| February 26, 2006 |
Goals review |
 |
Our check of former
Rovers players scoring goals this weekend begins at the City Ground in League
One, where Nottingham Forest demolished relegation-haunted (at least they
are now!) Swindon Town 7-1. Ex-Rover Jack Lester, who spent a month on loan
at Belle Vue during the 1996/97 season, scored their final goal of the game. |
| February 26, 2006 |
Lakers switch match |
 |
The Doncaster Lakers
have announced that this afternoon's match at Belle Vue against Dewsbury
has been switched to Dewsbury, and will kick-off at 3pm. The home match against
Dewsbury will now take place on Sunday, March 26th. The switch has been made
in an effort to allow the Belle Vue pitch time to be in good condition for
the Rovers' home game on Tuesday against Brentford. |
| February 26, 2006 |
Beech leaves Hucknall |
 |
New Hucknall Town manager Kevin Wilson has been busy in the transfer market this week, and one of the casualties of his rapidly changing squad is former Rovers defender Chris Beech. Chris has been a virtual ever-present in the Hucknall side this season, but is not part of Wilson's plans for next season, and is being given the opportunity to find a new club. He has played despite being in discomfort with a partially slipped disc, and was brought into the club by Hucknall's previous manager, ex-Rovers defender Dean Barick. |
| February 25, 2006 |
Rovers team news |
 |
Rovers' injury situation
is gradually easing, although Rovers will still be without a number of players
for this afternoon's League One game at Hartlepool United. In addition to
the longer-term injuries, Paul Heffernan will miss the game with a groin
injury - Dave Penney reports that Heffernan is probably two weeks of a first
team return. |
| February 25, 2006 |
Hartlepool team news |
| |
Hartlepool have had
the luxury of eleven days since their last game, which has given some of
their injured players plenty of time to regain fitness. Today also marks
their first game since news emerged that former Pools manager Chris Turner
has returend to the club as "Director of Sport", although the club
have also confirmed that caretaker manager Paul Stephenson will remain as
boss until the summer. Turner will not be invovled in first team affairs. |
| February 25, 2006 |
McCormack released |
| |
Rovers have heard that on-loan striker Ross McCormack has been released from the Scotland Under-21 squad for next week's game, which means that he will now be available for Tuesday's home game against Brentford. With Northern Ireland confirming that Alan Blayney will not be required for their game against Estonia, it means that just David Wheater will be unavailable for the Brentford match owing to international call-ups. |
| February 25, 2006 |
Fanzine sold out |
| |
The latest issue of the Popular Stand fanzine sold out last Saturday. Some more copies are to be printed - please email nathan.batchelor@inboxnews.co.uk if you want a copy. |
| February 24, 2006 |
Sarge on loan to Chester |
 |
Rovers' central defender
Mark Albrighton is due to join League Two club Chester City on loan today
after travelling over to Chester for discussions with Mark Wright yesterday.
Albrighton appears to have slipped down the pecking order at Rovers following
the arrival of Graeme Lee and David Wheater, and his contract at Rovers only
runs until the end of this season. |
| February 24, 2006 |
McSporran to Boston |
 |
Jermaine McSporran became
the second Rovers player to go out on loan to a League Two club yesterday,
with the news that he has signed for Boston United on loan for a month. With
Jermaine being out of action due to injury since last March, it is hoped
that this loan move will enable him to regain full match fitnes. |
| February 24, 2006 |
Rovers' promotion push |
 |
Rovers defender David Mulligan reckons that Rovers' promotion push is gathering momentum at just the right time in the season. Rovers are eyeing another three points tomorrow to make it four wins in a row, and Mulligan said: "Promotion has been the aim since day one this season and we're on a bit of a run at the moment. This is the time of year when you want to be finding a bit of form and grinding victories each week. We're doing that but we need to make sure we don't slip up at Hartlepool because even though they've struggled this year, they're a very strong side on their day." |
| February 23, 2006 |
Brentford match goes ahead as Blayney misses out |
 |
Following on from news
earlier this week that Rovers will be without on-loan stars Ross McCormack
and David Wheater, who have been called up for international duty, the Doncaster
Free Press has this morning reported that Alan Blayney will not be required
by Northern Ireland for their international match against Estonia next week.
It had previously been reported that Blayney may be required as cover owing
to the injury to Roy Carroll, who had been named in the squad, despite being
injured for at least the last couple of weeks. However, the Northern Ireland
bosses have told Rovers that Blayney will not be needed. |
| February 23, 2006 |
Hartlepool tickets |
| |
Please note that Saturday's
away match at Hartlepool United is all-ticket for Rovers fans. Tickets are
now on sale from the Belle Vue ticket ofice, and go on general sale today,
at a rate of one adult ticket per person. |
| February 23, 2006 |
Richie move denied |
 |
Mansfield Town manager,
Peter Shirtliff, has denied that former Rovers striker Richie Barker is moving
to League One big spenders Swansea City. The striker joined Mansfield from
Rotherham 16 months ago, and has been linked to a move to the Liberty Stadium
as Swansea look to strengthen their promotion bid. |
| February 23, 2006 |
Programme night |
| |
Doncaster Rovers are
holding a "Rovers History and Programme Night" at the Rovers Return
this evening, with three programme dealer stands attending the event. There
will also be some former players from the 1980's and a number of other stands
there, with various memorabilia for sale. |
| February 22, 2006 |
Reserves match off |
 |
This afternoon's reserve
team game against Hull City has been postponed, due to the large number of
injuries affecting both Rovers and Hull. The match has been rearranged for
Tuesday, 11th April, with a 2pm kick-off. |
| February 22, 2006 |
Mulligan puts Rovers first |
| |
Rovers defender David Mulligan has confirmed that, despite his desire to be included in Thursday's international match for New Zealand against Malaysia, he will be remaining in England to play for the Rovers. However, Mulligan told PA Sport: "I definitely won't be going now because there are other players away on international duty, so I'm needed here. It's not the end of the world because we've got Chile in April and the game against Brazil has also been confirmed by the New Zealand FA." |
| February 22, 2006 |
Goals time |
 |
There was a full mid-week
fixture list in the Nationwide Conference this week, with ex-Rover Warren
Peyton scoring the equaliser for Altrincham in their home match against Halifax
Town. Halifax scored a late goal to win 2-1, moving them up to third place,
behind Hereford United on goal difference, but a massive thirteen points
behind Accrington Stanley. |
| February 22, 2006 |
Hartlepool v Rovers |
| |
Hartlepool United have issued a request for all Rovers fans to remain seated during Saturday's game at Victoria Park. The Football Licensing Authority are closely monitoring the issue of fan standing in seated areas, and Hartlepool have a policy of evicting persistent offenders. Please note that this applies to all matches at Hartlepool, and is not specific to Saturday's match. |
| February 21, 2006 |
Voting results |
 |
The new boys have again
been dominant in the "Man of the Match" voting, with the lastest
results, for the home game against Gillingham on Saturday, showing that four
out of the top six places go to players who have joined the club since the
New Year. With nine Rovers players receiving nominations, the players receiving
the most votes were as follows: |
| February 21, 2006 |
McCormack for Scotland |
| |
Doncaster Rovers striker Ross McCormack, currently on loan from Glasgow Rangers, has been named in the Scotland Under-21 squad to face Iceland at Firhill next Tuesday. This call-up means that Ross will miss the Rovers' home game against Brentford, which is played on the same evening. |
| February 21, 2006 |
Wheater for England! |
| |
We also understand that Rovers' centre back David Wheater, who is at Belle Vue on an initial month's loan from Middlesbrough, has been named int he England Under-19's squad for their game next Tuesday - meaning that Rovers will be missing two players for the Brentford game due to international call-ups. |
| February 21, 2006 |
Mulligan hopes for NZ game |
| |
To add to the list of
Rovers players on international duty this week, Rovers defender Dave Mulligan
is hoping to be able to link up with the New Zealand squad for their friendly
fixture against Malaysia on Thursday. Mulligan was forced to pull out of
New Zealand's game in Auckland last week owing to Rovers' injury crisis,
but he hopes to be able to fly out for the second match. |
| February 20, 2006 |
Penney praises defence |
| |
Dave Penney is hoping
that the Rovers defence can maintain their recent good form for Saturday's
away game at Hartlepool. Saturday's game against Gillingham was the third
successive game that they had kept a clean sheet - and the arrival of the
new players since January(Lee, Wheater, Horlock, McCormack) must have played
a key part in that improvement of form. |
| February 20, 2006 |
Coin Trail update |
 |
Helped by some extra
collectors who volunteered on Saturday, the collection for the "Coin
Trail" was a magnificent £677.53 - thanks go not only to those
volunteers, but to everyone who put some money into the collection. Together
with £455.00 raised by the "Name the stand" raffle, the new
total for the appeal, which is raising money for the Rovers' youth team,
stands at £45,604.09. |
| February 20, 2006 |
Brevett not for Foxes |
| |
Leicester City have failed to sign former Doncaster Rovers defender Rufus Brevett on a month's loan. Plymouth, Brevett's current club, declined the offer by the Champonship club, as the offer was only for a month. Argyle boss, Tony Pulis, commented: "Leicester rang up and wanted to take Rufus for a month. But a month is no good for me or the club - if they want Rufus, they should take him for the rest of the season." |
| February 18, 2006 |
Rovers 2 Gillingham 0 |
| |
Rovers made it three
wins in a row this afternoon as goals by David Wheater and Ross McCormack
took Rovers to victory, with a disappointing Gillingham side failing to land
a single shot on goal. Most of the Gillingham shots were from distance, and
most ended up several yards wide. A good first half performance saw Rovers
take control, again with the new arrivals playing a key part in the Rovers'
dominance. The first goal came as a scramble in the Gillingham penalty area
was prodded over the line by Wheater, who was stil up-field for a corner.
The second goal came from the penalty spot - the penalty having been won
when Jason Price was impeded as he ran with pace into the right side of the
Gills' penalty area. With regular penalty taker Michael McIndoe on the subsitutes
bench, owing to an injury picked up in the midweek game at Chesterfield,
Ross McCormack clinically fired home the penalty, sending the goalkeeper
the wrong way. |
| February 19, 2006 |
Voting results v Chesterfield |
| |
The results of the
"Man of the Match" voting for the away game against Chesterfield
last Wednesday saw a close contest between Kevin Horlock and Jason Price
for the lead. In the end, Horlock edged just in front for his first vote
victory since joining the club. With twelve players receiving nominations,
the leading votes were cast as follows: |
| February 19, 2006 |
Goals check |
 |
Former Doncaster Rovers
players scorin goals yesterday include Richie Barker, who scored twice as
his club Mansfield Town drew 2-2 at home to Wrexham in League Two. In the
Conference, Dino Maamria scored from the penalty spot after just five minutes
to put Stevenage Borough 2-0 up in their match at Dagenham & Redbridge.
The scoring didn't stop there - Dagenham scored twice for the score after
16 mintues to be 2-2. Sadly for the spectators, there was no addition to
the score, and the match ended 2-2. |
| February 19, 2006 |
Whitman moves on loan |
 |
Ex-Rovers striker Tristram Whitman has signed for Conference North side Hinckley United on loan until the end of the season. Whitman is currently on the books of Conference National side Tamworth, but was signed in time to make his debut for the Knitters yesterday in their match against Stalybridge Celtic. |
| February 18, 2006 |
Rovers team news |
 |
Rovers have two doubts
from Wednesday's victory at Chesterfield, with skipper Michael McIndoe and
Jason Price reporting in for treatment on Thursday. Both are likely to play,
however, and Rovers will be looking to maintain a settled squad following
two successive victories. |
| February 18, 2006 |
Gillingham team news |
| |
Gillingham, like Rovers,
are also limited in the number of players they have available for this afternoon's
game, with news that leading scorer Darren Byfield will miss the game after
being sent off in Tuesday's game against Swindon Town - he starts the first
of a four match ban today. Fellow striker Neil Harris has a knee injury,
so will also have to sit out the game, with Alan Pouton doutbful with a knee
injury. Midfielder Matty Jarvis is still recovering from an ankle injury
and will not feature today, although is is hopeful of returning to training
next week. |
| February 18, 2006 |
Viking Coin Trail |
| |
Doncaster Rovers have announced that they have allowed a collection in aid of Rotherham United to take place outside Belle Vue this afternoon. However, the Viking Supporters' Co-operative's "Coin Trail" will go ahead this afternoon as usual, which raises money for the benefit of the Rovers' youth team set-up. We urge supporters to put their money into the "Coin Trail" collection - Rotherham were one of the few clubs to refuse permission for the "Coin Trail" collection at their ground when Rovers played them at Christmas. |
| February 18, 2006 |
Season ticket loan scheme |
| |
Doncaster Rovers are
launching a loan scheme which will enable supporters to buy their season
ticket at affordable repayments. The launch event will take place in the
Rovers Return at midday today. The loan scheme will be organised by the Danum
Credit Union, which is a locally based financial co-operative, and payment
for season tickets will be spread over twelve monthly instalments. |
| February 17, 2006 |
Penney - keep picking up the points |
| |
Whilst in league table
positions, Rovers have zoomed up the table to ninth, Rovers manager, Dave
Penney, has warned that his side are still not out of danger. With 14 clubs
being within 6 points of each other, he thinks there is still everything
to play for. |
| February 17, 2006 |
Burton on trials at Caley |
 |
Former Doncaster Rovers
striker Ben Jackson has impressed at Scottish Premier League club Inverness
Caledonian Thistle, where he ahs been training for three weeks, and has done
well enough to be given a two week trial. |
| February 17, 2006 |
Tarkan listed |
 |
Former Doncaster Rovers
defender Tarkan Mustafa has been transfer listed by his current club, Nationwide
Confererence club Aldershot Town. Now aged 31, Mustafa has struggled to win
a place in the side this season, and has only played ten games so far. |
| February 16, 2006 |
Chesterfield 0 Rovers 1 |
| |
Rovers registered a
second successive derby win in five days to move up to ninth in the League
One table. Jason Price's third goal in two games was enough to give Rovers
the points, with a lob over the Chesterfield goalkeeper after he had failed
to deal with a cross. |
| February 16, 2006 |
Shrimps deny Rigo return |
 |
Nationwide Conference promotion contenders Morecambe have denied that Adriano Rigoglioso is set to rejoin the club. Rigoglioso has been training with the Shrimps following his recent release from Doncaster Rovers, but Morecambe stress that this is only to allow the 26-year old midfielder to build up his fitness levels following recent injury problems. |
| February 16, 2006 |
Coaches to Hartlepool |
| |
The Supporters Club
are running coaches to the away game at Hartlepool next Saturday (25th February). |