Rovers manager Dave Penney has praised the performance of his side during last night's superb victory over Premiership club Aston Villa, saying: "Three-nil was a great scoreline for us. We just work hard. We play a high tempo and the form we are in we are looking sharp. It is just all clicking together at the moment.". Rovers comprehensively beat Villa during the match, with the club going through to the League Cup quarter-finals for the first time in thirty years - and only the second time in their history.
The draw for the quarter finals of the Carling Cup will be made on Saturday, 3rd December, with the matches due to be played in the week commencing Monday, 19th December.
As to who the preferred opponents for the next round will be, Dave Penney said: "It doesn't matter. Whoever you are going to get in the next round is going to be a massive team. It (the Carling Cup) has got a buzz about the town."

Whilst paying compliment to Doncaster Rovers' achievements in last night's match, Aston Villa boss David O'Leary felt that some of the "big decisions" during the match went in favour of Rovers. He thought that the penalty award for handball when Liam Ridgewell handled James Coppinger's cross was harsh, and Milan Baros was denied a spot kick decision in the second half when he appeared to be tripped by Steve Foster. O'Leary commented: "There were a couple of big decisions. I thought big decision (the penalty)went for them which influenced the game. The second goal was a poor goal on our behalf and an important goal - it was important for us to get the next goal after the interval."
However, he paid tribute to Rovers' performance, saying: "Good luck to Doncaster, they're a good footballing side and try to play football. They've beaten Manchester City and ourselves.In the second half they were better than us. We came here not with a patched up side but to win and do well. We've got to move on and start climbing the league."

Former Rovers defender Scott Maxfield became the latest to leave Nationwide North club Barrow following Lee Turnbull's sacking as manager ten days ago. Maxfield, has recently blamed a witch-hunt for Turnbull losing his job, with Barrow having suffered a large number of injuries for the first part of the season. News came through yesterday that Maxfield had left Barrow yesterday to sign for Nationwide North rivals Stalybridge Celtic on an 18-month contract. The number of former Rovers players to leave the club currently stands at three, with Turnbull and Maxfield also being joined by Paul Raven, who had initially been installed as caretaker manager following Turnbull's departure.

Doncaster Rovers caused another major cup shock this evening at a freezing Belle Vue when they unceremoniously dumped Premiership team Aston Villa out of the Carling Cup to reach the quarter finals of the competition for the first time in thirty years. Not only did they win, but they played some superb football in front of the Sky TV cameras, and thoroughly deserved such a scoreline. Villa were reduced to shots from distance, and only actually landed one shot on target - and that was straight at Rovers' on-loan keeper Dino Seremet. Rovers' first goal came from the penalty spot after a Villa defender handled a low James Coppinger cross - and then Michael McIndoe surprised everyone by putting the ball into the bottom right corner, instead of the usual left corner. Goal number two came in the second half as Paul Heffernan was put through by Sean Thornton, with Heffernan slotting the ball home from twelve yards. The third goal, which sealed Villa's fate twelve minutes from time was a great shot from Sean Thornton which flew into the top right corner of the net from 20 yards.
Villa were disappointing, but take nothing away from Rovers. Villa were disappointing because they never got into the game, as Rovers didn't allow them to dictate the style of play. The whole game was played as Rovers wanted, in the Rovers style with great pace.
O'Leary and Ellis, are you listening? Your boys took one hell of a beating at Belle Vue tonight!
The draw for the next round of the Carling Cup will be on Saturday morning. The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed. Thank you to an incredible number of you who took the time to vote. The result will be announced on Friday morning.

Rovers chairman believes that Rovers will cause another shock in the Carling Cup this evening, as he predicts a Rovers victory over Premiership club Aston Villa. He said: "Personally, I think we will beat Villa on Tuesday," said Ryan. "Don't ask me why but I just believe it will happen. I believe some things are written in the Gods and I honestly think we are destined to win this game. They are the favourites and people are predicting a 3-0 win for them, but we've some good, experienced players and can give them a good game."
Rovers have met Villa only on rare occasions, but the most notable was in the 1954/55 season when it took four replays to separate the two sides, with Rovers ultimately winning the fourth round tie at The Hawthorns. Villa midfielder Gareth Barry is well aware of the chances of an upset tonight, commenting: “You see time and time again so-called big clubs get tripped up facing exactly these sorts of games,” the Villa midfield player said. “We know from recent experiences how good a side Manchester City are and yet full credit to Doncaster — they got the draw and went through on penalties. There’s no way this will be an easy game. It will be a tough place to go. They’ll have had their sights on us ever since the draw was made and we’ll have to be at our best to make sure we progress.”

Rovers are likely to name a virtually unchanged side to that which defeated Bristol City on Saturday, wtih the only change expected to be the return of goalkeeper Jan Budtz in place of on-loan Dino Seremet. However, with few clues coming out of the Rovers camp so far, this change is by no means certain.
Villa will be without defender Wilfred Bouma, who badly bruised a tie in their game against Charlton Athletic at the weekend, with Jlloyd Samuel expected to deputise for him. Also likely to be given recalls to day are Juan Pablo Angel and Lee Hendry.
With a capacity crowd for the game, supporters are urged to arrive at Belle Vue much earlier than usual to avoid congestion on surrounding roads and at the turnstiles.

The delivery of the Rovers v Aston Villa programme has been delayed, although copies of the programme are expected to arrive this morning. Rovers had announced that copies would go on sale at a large number of outlets throughout the Doncaster area yesterday, but a delay in the printing of the programme caused its late delivery. However, with a record print run for a Rovers programme being ordered for the game, there are expected to be plenty of copies available. As well as the outlets mentioned in our report from yesterday, the programmes will, of course, be avaialble at the Rovers club shops at Belle Vue and in the town centre.

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative have reported that an increase in the size of the crowd led to an increase in the amount collected in their "Coin Trail" appeal, with a total of £682.89 being raised, taking the running total to £40,721.43.

A great response to the latest "Man of the Match" saw an interesting tussle for who was to be the winner of the voting, with a close run contest, right until the closing of the votes. In the end, James Coppinger just edged ahead of Sean Thornton to win the voting. With nine players receiving nominations, the leading votes were cast as follows:
1 James Coppinger (24.74%)
2 Sean Thornton (22.68%)
3 Nick Fenton (15.46%)
4 Paul Heffernan (13.40%)
5 Ricky Ravenhill (8.25%)
Thank you to the large number of people that voted. The next vote will open later this evening following the home game against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup.

Dave Penney described the Rovers' performance on Saturday as being an "excellent display", which moved Rovers up to ninth in the table, just three points away from the play-off places. With a goal in each half which consigned Bristol City to their eighth succesive defeat, Penney said: "I thought it was an excellent display from start to finish. They had a couple of chances, but some of our forward play was excellent and with a bit more luck and better finishing we maybe could have got."

Following a number of comments raised by Rovers fans, Andy Liney is organising a "focus group" to develop ideas for the potential benefit of Doncaster Rovers' administration and marketing. That group will consider ideas raised from within the group, and also those contributed by those unable to be present in person. There have already been 24 people recruited to the group, with the initial meeting being held at the Rovers Return in within the next two weeks.
A smaller group of perhaps five fans will then travel to John Ryan's house in Cheshire to present and discusss the findings on behalf of the whold group. That meeting is scheduled for 21st December.
A full statement about this "focus group" can be read on the "news" page of the Viking Supporters' Co-operative's web site - either click on the logo to the left, or go to www.vikingsc.co.uk

Rovers have produced a special edition of their match day programme for tomorrow's Carling Cup fourth round game against Aston Villa. The programme has been produced to celebrate Rovers having reached the fourth round - the furthest they have reached in the competition for thirty years, when they went one stage further and reached the quarter-finals.
Articles in the programme look back at the last time Rovers faced Villa in both the cup and league, as well as features on Rovers' great players such as Peter Kitchen and Brendan O'Callaghan.
The programmes are being sold at a special price of only £2.00, and are available from many newsagents throughout the Doncaster area:
Alan's News 9 Wivelsfield Road Balby, Alverley News, Springwell Lane, Balby;M&L News, 33 Springwell Lane, Balby; Harrisons News, 304 Balby Road, Balby; Sprotborough Road News, Sprotborough; Beevers Newagents, Church Street, Armthorpe; Bennetthorpe Post Office, 2b Bennetthorpe; Branton Post Office, Doncaster Road, Branton; Auckley News, 30 Ellers Lane, Auckley; Heyworth & Taylor, Donside Store, Fishlake; Gibsons News, 5 High Street, Hatfield; Dickies News, 18 Station Road, Bawtry; Brown News, 8 Thornhill Avenue, Wheatley Hills; Elsmore News, 302 Thorne Road, Wheatley Hills; Beckett Road Post Office, Wheatley; M&K Smith News, 183 Beckett Road, Wheatley; Edenthorpe Post Office, Thorne Road, Edenthorpe, CJ&JM Woolford News, Brecks Lane, Kirk Sandall; Cantley Post Office, Everingam Road, Cantley; Cowan News, 78 Edlington Lane, Warmsworth; Farmhouse Food And Wine, 1 Mill Lane, Warmsworth; Church Street News, 33 Church Street, Conisborough; Windmill News, Windmill Avenue, Conisborough; United Discounts, Wembley Avenue, Conisborough; GT News, 11 Market Place, Tickhill; Wadworth Post Office, Main Street, Wadworth; Thorne News, Finkle Street, Thorne; RT & C Leggott News, 68 King Street, Thorne; M &JL News, 9 High Street, Carcroft; Skellow News, Skellow Road, Skellow.

John Hollins, the former Chelsea player and manager, newly installed as manager of Nationwide Conference strugglers Crawley Town, has appointed former Doncaster Rovers assistant manager Alan Lewer as his assistant. With Crawley currently third from the bottom of the Conference table, both have the aim of keeping the club in the division this season - or they will be out of a job.
Lewer has been at a number of clubs since he left Rovers, where he had been assistant to Steve Wignall.

Rovers turned on the style for the extra fans that were attrated to Belle Vue this afternoon due to gate prices being slashed, with all children being allowed in free. They had the idea start when Paul Heffernan scored a great goal against his old team mates after just five minutes, and Rovers had chance after chance which went begging, and miraculously the score stayed at 1-0 at the interval. After the break, City had a few minutes early pressure, but Rovers totally dominated the second half. We were they treated to James Coppinger's first goal since arriving at Belle Vue last summer, a header in the 68th minute. With other results going in Rovers' favour, they now climb up to ninth in the table - just three points away from the play-off places.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed, and the result will be announced on Tuesday morning.

For a change, there are quite a few former Doncaster Rovers players scoring goals this weekend. We begin in League One, where Jack Lester scored for Nottingham Forest on the stroke of half time in their match at Huddersfield. The match ended up as a 2-1 home win. Lester blotted his copybook late in the second half though - after being booked in the 44th minute, he was sent off in the 77th - with reduced Forest to nine players, as Ian Breckin had been sent of twenty minutes earlier.
JJ Melligan scored the only game in League Two as Cheltenham won at Bury, and Richie Barker scored Mansfield's second goal as they won 2-1 at home to Stockport County.
Slightly off topic, Adriano Rigoglioso played his first match as a lone striker for Southport yesterday as they travelled to Accrington Stanley in the Nationwide Conference. His presence didn't help though, with his side going down to a 4-0 defeat, and Rigoglioso apparently putting in a lacklustre performance.
In the Conference, ex-Rover Ian Clark scored from the penalty spot as Neil Redfearn's Scarborough continued their climb away from the bottom of the table with a 2-0 win over Halifax Town.
North of the border, Colin Cramb scored one goal in Stenhousemuir's 6-2 home win over Montrose, which moves them closer to Division Three leaders Berwick.

The rest of the review looks at former Rovers players scoring goals in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy.
Neil Grayson scored one of Stafford Rangers' four goals as they won 4-1 at Leigh RMI, Steve Brodie scored Droyslden's second goal as they won 4-0 at home to Grantham Town, and Brian Quality scored Nuneaton Borough's only goal as they were victims of on of the surprise results of the round as they went down 3-1 at Farsley Celtic. Finally, Gary Wiliams scored a last minute goal for Clitheroe as they defeated Woodley Sports 2-1.

Former Doncaster Rovers central defender Jamie Squires has been released by UniBond First Divisoin club Chorley, as manager Chris McGrath (son of ex-Man Utd's Paul) shuffles his squad whilst balancing his budget. Squires made over thirty appearances for Rovers during the 2001/02 season.

Rovers have announced that Doncaster Racecourse have allowed Rovers to use their car park opposite the Grandstand on Leger Way (at the bottom of Town Moor Avenue) for use by both sets of supporters on Tuesday evening. The charge will be £3, the same as in the Rovers main car park (but we can't promise there will be as many pot-holes!).

Rovers will hand a first team debut to on-loan goalkeeper Dino Seremet this afternoon after the only other available keeper, Jan Budtz, picked up a knock in midweek, and is being rested ahead of Rovers' important Carling Cup game against Aston Villa on Tuesday. Apart from that change, there are not likely to be many changes from the line-up that faced Bournemouth last Saturday. On-loan central defender Sam Oji may feature in the squad, but may be more likely to start on the bench, with Roberts and Foster being the likely central defensive partnership.
Rovers' injury list continues to grow. As well as having Barry Richardson and Andy Warrington recovering from broken legs, and Tonny Neilsen suffering from a back problem, news came through this week that Phil McGuire will be absent for the rest of the season. McGuire is reported to having had surgery, presumably as a result of colliding with the advertising hoardings at a reserve team game earlier in the month. However, Simon Marples is expected to be fit to return in the near future.

A number of players in the Bristol City squad will face late fitness tests before manager Gary Johnson names his side for this afternoon's game at Belle Vue. Steve Brooker is the biggest doubt after picking up a wound on his left knee that was caused by a bladed boot. Other doubts include Louis Carey (knee) and Alex Russell (hamstring), who have missed games recently. Osei Sankofa will return after completing a one match suspension, but definitely missing today due to injury will be Scott Gilbourne (ankle), Scott Brown and Dave Patridge.

The Pontins Holidays League fixture against Lincoln City that should have been played on 16th November will now be played on 16th January, with a 2pm kick-off.

Rovers' sponsors Steetwise are supplying fifty footballs which will be thrown into the crowd at this afternoon's game against Bristol City. In addition, a draw will be held in which four season ticket holders will win either a copy of Football Manager 2006, or an HMV voucher.

Ex-Rovers striker Tristram Whitman has joined Conference side Crawley Town on a two-month loan, after being expected to join Altrincham earlier in the month. Despite scoring eleven goals last season, Whitman has fallen down the pecking order at Tamworth this season.

Doncaster Rovers have signed Luton Town goalkeeper Dino Seremet on a one-month loan. Born in Slovenia, Seremet has yet to play for Luton's first team, and has signed for Rovers as cover for Jan Budtz, who is currently the only fit goalkeeper on Rovers' books. Seremet will be included in the Rovers squad for tomorrow's home game against Bristol City.

We are sure that you need no reminding that Rovers are holding a "Celebration day" at Belle Vue tomorrow, with admission prices being slashed in a move that will also see many qualify for free admission. Rovers chairman, John Ryan, is to stand on the Rossington End with the Rovers fans, and has urged everyone to bring Rovers shirts, flags and banners to make a party atmosphere. The move, which also sees the match day programmes being given out free of charge, is partly to gauge potential support of the club as they strive towards promotion to the Championship. With a large crowd expected, you are urged to get there earlier than usual. Admisison prices tomorrow will be:
Seating: Adults - £10.00, Concessions - Free
Standing: Adults - £5.00, Concessions - Free
Tickets are available from the ticket office at Belle Vue, and also from the club shop in Priory Walk.

A total of seven Rovers players gained nominations for the "Man of the Match" for the Cambridge United game on Tuesday evening. With most of the votes given evenly throughout the nominations, the results were as follows:
1 Leo Fortune-West (26.32%)
1 Sean McDaid (26.32%)
3 Dave Mulligan (15.79%)
3 Adam Hughes (15.79%)
Thank you to everyone who took part. The next vote will open following Saturday's home game against Bristol City.

Former Rovers striker Gregg Blundell, now at Chester City, faces another two weeks out of action as he battles to regain fitness following a head injury sustained against Rochdale last month. His specialist has told him that he must rest for another two weeks because there is a risk of rupturing his haematoma.
Blundell is Chester's record signing, having signed from Rovers in the summer in a £105,000 transfer.

Former Rovers midfielder Jamie Paterson has been released by Nationwide North club Kettering Town. The decision appears to be triggered by new manager Paul Gascoigne's desire to turn the club into a full-time outfit, and Paterson's commitments as a coach at Halifax Town would make it difficult for him to join the full-time ranks at the club.

Rovers have allowed midfielder Adriano Rigoglioso to go out on loan to Southport for an initial one month. Adriano has been out of action for much of this season due to injury, but has featured in recent reserve team games.
Craig Nelthorpe has gone on loan to Hucknall Town for an initial month on "work experience", and will join ex-Rovers players Chris Beech, Robert Gill and Hucknall boss Dean Barrick at the club.

Dave Penney conceded that his side did not play enough to deserve to win on Tuesday when they went out of the LDV Vans Trophy at Cambridge United. He commented: "We made a few changes and we were not good enough - it's a bit disappointing really. We made eight changes because we wanted to give some players a run-out but it didn't quite work."

Rovers goalkeeper Barry Richardson has been transferred from Addenbrookes Hospital to the same hospital in Norwich that Andy Warrington had his leg operation at. Richardson appears to have broken the same bone as Warrington broke, and will have exactly the same surgery as Andy. The fact that Barry will also not have to have a pot on his leg will speed his recovery, but will still mean that he will miss the rest of the season.

Tickets for Saturday's home game against Bristol City are now available at the Rovers' shop in Priory Walk. Prices are only £5 for adults and are free for concessions, so don't miss out! Whilst the match is not all ticket, buying your ticket in advance will ensure that you can get into the ground, with Rovers hoping for a close to capacity crowd.

Eight changes were made by Dave Penney for last night's LDV Vans Trophy match at Cambridge United, and he watched his side go two goals down in the first 35 minutes, before a brace from Leo Fortune-West brought the scores level with 20 minutes to go. However, that equaliser urged the home side onto the attack, and they won the match with a wonder-strike from 30 yards just twelve minutes from the end. More worryingly for Dave will be the serious injury to Barry Richardson, which will now leave Rovers with just one fit goalkeeper. With the loan transfer window closing tomorrow afternoon, Penney will have to move quickly to sign some cover for Jan Budtz.
The "man of the match" has now closed. Thank you to everyone who voted. The result will be announced on Friday morning.

The voting for the "man of the match" for Saturday's game against Bournemouth saw a close contest to win the vote. With ten Rovers players nominated, it was realistically a contest between Sean McDaid and Sean Thornton, with the leading votes being cast as follows:
1 Sean Thornton (27.27%)
2 Sean McDaid (22.07%)
3 Paul Heffernan (16.88%)
4 Ricky Ravenhill (10.39%)
Thank you to everyone that voted - all of your votes will go forward to the "Player of the Season" vote.

It was confirmed last night that Barry Richardson broke his leg during last night's LDV Vans Trophy defeat at Cambridge United. He has been detained in a hospital in Cambridge for an operation today.
This means that Rovers have only one fit goalkeeper, Jan Budtz - presumably meaning that Tonny Neilsen is still not fully fit. Rovers are now urgently looking for some goalkeeping cover to Budtz - the loan transfer window closes tomorrow afternoon.

Birmingham City's official web site has reported that young defender Sam Oji is set to sign for Doncaster Rovers on a six week loan deal. He has been granted permission to play in all cup competitions - except if Rovers face Birmingham in that time. City report that the paperwork will be completed this morning, with the loan keeping him at Belle Vue until January 8th.

Rovers defender Tim Ryan had an operation on his Achilles tendon problem which has kept him out of action for the last couple of months. This news will obviously mean that it will be some time before Tim is fit for a playing return.

Rovers manager, Dave Penney, praised his team for the win on Saturday which saw Rovers move into the top half of the table for the first time since September. His commented on the match, saying: "It was two decent teams who tried to play football and play the game the right way. We are delighted with the win, it's a massive three points. We had a good win at Oldham last week and we needed to follow up with another win. At 2-0 it was easy, at 3-0 we switched off and then it's down to concentration levels from Jan (Budtz) but he got away with it and we got the result."

Doncaster Rovers striker Lewis Guy has signed a twelve month extension to his contract, which now will keep him at Rovers until the end of next season.

We begin this week's review of former Doncaster Rovers players scoring goals this week in League Two, where Kevin McIntyre scored the only goal of the game in the 37th minute as Macclesfield won at home to Darlington.
North of the border, Colin Cramb scored again for Stenhousemuir as his side maintained second place in the Third Division by winning 3-2 at East Fife. He is currently top scorer in the Third Division alongside team mate Paul McGrillen, with nine goals to date.
Dropping into Nationwide North, Neil Grayson equalised for Stafford Rangers as they drew 1-1 at Barrow, who have ex-Rover Paul Raven in temporary charge after another ex-Rover, Lee Turnbull, was sacked last week. Worksop had another good win as they were victorious by a 3-0 scoreline at Redditch, with Ben Saunders grabbing another two goals.

Rovers chairman John Ryan has announced that the prices for the next home game, against Bristol City, will be drastically cut as he aims to fill Belle Vue. The move is hoped to produce a much improved attendance on Saturday, as Ryan tries to gauge overall support for the club. He has appealed to the fans to turn up in great numbers, by saying: "Here is my challenge to you fans out there. I've covered most of the cost of the Bristol game by dropping prices for it, so come and pack out The Earth Stadium to support the lads playing some great football. If you are a regular who pays every game and turns out for all the games, then this is a present from me as a thank you."
Admission prices on Saturday will be:
Seating - Adults: £10.00, Concessions FREE
Terracing - Adults: £5.00, Concessions FREE

Rovers moved into the top half of the league table with a very deserved win over Bournemouth, with the winning margin rather flattering on the visitors, who only scored their two goals when the Rovers' concentration appeared to switch off after going into a 3-0 lead. Rovers opened the scoring with a superbly taken goal from Heffernan - a surging run by Thornton began the move, passing the ball to Thornton on the right just short of the penalty area. The referee played the advantage as Thornton went down, and some superb control by Heffernan preceded his shot at goal. The final Rovers goal was also quite superb - Paul Green cracking a great shot from 20 yards into the top right hand corner. In between, Michael McIndoe made up for his first half penalty miss by scoring from the spot after an hour's play, and Ricky Ravenhill bundled the ball over the line for Rovers third.
Intriguingly, Rovers are now only three points short of the play-off places, and with struggling Bristol City to visit Belle Vue next Saturday, there is every chance of that gap being closed even further.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. We will let you know the result on Tuesday morning.

Doncaster Rovers have announced that they are now selling season tickets which cover the second half of the season, with the first match covered being the Brentford game on December 28th.
Prices of these tickets are as follows:
Seating: Adults £165.00, Concessions £85.00
Terracing: Adults £135.00, Concessions £65.00
The half-season tickets are on sale now from the Rovers ticket office.

Former Doncaster Rovers defender Steve Richards, manager at UniBond club Ossett Town, has left the club by mutual consent, with disappointing results of late understood to have contibuted to his departure.

In an interview on the Rovers Official Site, John Ryan has expressed his disappointment at the number of people that attended yesterday's home game against Bournemouth. Whilst the crowd of just over 4,800 was the lowest so far this season, a contritibutory factor may be that Rovers have a sequence of three home games in a ten day period, with Bristol City due next Saturday, followed by Aston Villa the following Tuesday.

Boston United have announced that their FA Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers has been changed from Saturday, 3rd December to Sunday, 4th December with a 2pm kick-off. The change is reported to have been made after lengthy discussions with the Lincolnshire Police and the Football Association.
The match will be all-ticket, with Rovers being allocated the Town End terrace, with tickets only being on sale at the Rovers ticket office. We will let you know when tickets will be going on sale.

Rovers are boosted by the return of Sheffield United's Jonathan Forte to the club for this afternoon's game against Bournemouth. Forte was not expected to return until next week, but it appears that he has returned early as Sheffield United want him back at Bramall Lane for the Christmas period.
Simon Marples definitely misses out today with a hamstring strain, with Phil McGuire, Tim Ryan, Jermaine McSporran and Andy Warrington remaining on the injured list.
A practice match against Notts County earlier on in the week saw Steve Roberts, Neil Roberts, Adam Hughes and Sean Thornton pushing for a recall after scoring goals.

On-loan striker James Keene is doubtful for today's game after missing training due to illness, but the Cherries are boosted by the return to fitness of Steve Fletcher, who was on the bench last Saturday, and played in the reserves during the week. Defenders Eddie Howe and midfielder Jason Tindall are fit again after injury absences, but are unlikely to be considered due to lack of match fitnes. Definitely sitting the game out with injuries will be Shaun Maher (heel), Karl Broadhurst (back), Josh Gowling (knee) and Warren Cummings (leg).

The new club shop, in Priory Walk in Doncaster town centre, will be officially opened by John Ryan at 11am this morning. Dave Penney, Donny Dog, the Vikettes and a number of players are also expected to attend the opening.

Donny Dog will be running in a football mascot race at East Midlands Airport this evening as part of the BBC's coverage of their "Children In Need" charity appeal. The race will apparently be shown "live" on BBC 1 some time after 6pm. Tune in and cheer Donny Dog on to victory!

Four Rovers staked a claim for a first team recall for tomorrow's home game against Bournemouth by scoring goals in a practice match against Notts County on Tuesday. Steve Roberts, Neil Roberts, Adam Hughes and Sean Thornton all scored as Rovers defeated County 4-2.
Assistant manager Mickey Walker commented: "The lads took their chances and played well. This was a chance to give the players who didn't feature at the weekend a good run-out with no Pontins League fixture this week after the Lincoln game was postponed."

Former Rover Lee Turnbull has been sacked as manager of Nationwide North club Barrow, with his side being without a league win in two months, and attendances understandingly falling. The position will be advertised in the nationwide press, with a preference for a north-west manager with a proven semi-professional track record. In the meantime, ex-Rover Paul Raven, who was previously assistant to Turnbull, will take charge on a week-to-week basis until a new appointment is made.

Rovers boss Dave Penney has praised Rovers winger Michael McIndoe after impressing with his ability to knock in penalties. McIndoe has now scored three spot kicks in the last two matches, and Penney said: "He is quality when it comes to penalties. You can't get better."

Former Rovers midfielder Warren Peyton is one of three players who have signed for Nationwide Conference side Altrincham this week, and will be available for Altrincham's game against Exeter City this weekend.

Dave Penney expressed his pleasure that his side ground out a result with a battling performance at Oldham Athletic on Sunday. With Rovers' form in the league being inconsistent, the three points won were most valuable to keep Rovers in touch with the top half of the table. Penney said of the game: "It wasn't the best of games and we had to grind out a result. It was a battling performance and my lads worked their socks off. It was nowhere near the form we showed when knocking Blackpool out of the FA Cup in our last game but you have to change your style away from home. Chances were few and far between and neither side made the keepers work hard enough."

There will be an open meeting of Yorkshire England Supporters on Sunday, 20 November, at 2.00 pm in the Viking Supporters Bar at Belle Vue, Doncaster. The meeting is primarily intended to exchange information and discuss plans regarding Germany 2006, and a few other current initiatives being planned. Any England fans are welcome, whether YES members or not. With the membership of YES now well over 150, they are hoping for a big turnout, so please do your best to attend and make it a worthwhile meeting! The bar will be open so it will also be an enjoyable social event in the company of fellow England fans.

Former Rovers striker Rod Thornley, who played briefly for Rovers during the ill-fated 1997/98 season, has moved from Altrincham to Radcliffe Borough on loan. Thornley, perhaps better known of late for his job as a masseur to the England squad, made just the one appearance for Rovers - in the 3-1 home defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion, which was the match that saw Rovers reported for fielding a weakened side.

We received one of the biggest ever votes for an away match this week following Rovers' 1-0 win at Oldham Athletic, so we would like to thank everyone who took part. There were seven players who received nominations, but realistically the contest was between three players. Interestingly, although Lewis Guy maintained a lead for most of the poll, votes for Ricky Ravenhill saw him "come up on the rails" to draw level by the time the voting closed. The leading votes were therefore cast as follows:
1 Lewis Guy (27.66%)
1 Ricky Ravenhill (27.66%)
3 Michael McIndoe (19.15%)
4 Sean McDaid (8.51%)
The next vote will open following Saturday's home game against Bournemouth.