Dave Penney has said that he suspects that his players are becoming distracted by their success in the Carling Cup, and would rather have twelve points in the league in exchange for those four cup victories, which would put them fourth in the table.
Rovers' boss said that his squad would be putting all thought of the Aston Villa game out of their mind - there are five games to play before the next round of the Carling Cup is due to be played as his side look to climb the league table with a little over a third of the season already gone.
Of Rovers' performance on Saturday, Penney said:"We huffed and puffed and never got into top gear. It's nice to do well in the cup but right now I would trade in all those wins for some more league points. We looked sluggish and there wasn't the usual zip or sparkle that you would normally associate with our play. It was a bad mistake and a lack of communication that led to them scoring their first goal and cost us the game. But we have no excuses and no complaints about the result."

Although he missed Scarborough's 2-2 draw on Saturday against Aldershot, Neil Redfearn has confirmed that he has no plans to stop playing. Explaining why he would not play on Saturday by saying: "Playing in Saturday's game will be too much for me because taking over as caretaker boss was dropped right on me this week," he continued: "But it doesn't mean that Neil Redfearn the manager would see off Neil Redfearn the player – why would you write off a midfielder who scored fifteen times last season? There aren't many of those about. If Eric Winstanley and myself can get things up and running and get the side playing the way we want, then I still think there can be a role on the field for me."
Redfearn also distanced himself from being in contention for the vacancy in order that he can continue his playing career, as it is not in his current plans. He said: "I certainly didn't come here to become manager. I do want to be a manager in time but I thought that it might be at another club when I called time on the pitch. The way things are right now I will have to have a total rethink, but whatever happens I will be true to myself and also 100 per cent honest to Scarborough Football Club. We need to get Saturday's game out of the way first and then have a sit down and look at the situation."

Only days after being appointed as caretaker manager at stuggling Conference National club Crawley Town, former Rovers striker Murray Jones has left the club "by mutual consent". Jones had only been appointed as former manager Dave Swindlehurst's assistant less than a month ago, and he becomes the latest in a steady stream of departures at the club since new owners, the SA Group, took control. Injured midfield player Simon Wormull took charge for Saturday's game at Cambridge United.

A disappointing display by Rovers in which they failed to seriously trouble the Tranmere goalkeeper in the entire game was not helped by a poor showing from the match officials, who produced a string of bizarre decisions which meant that Rovers were always facing an uphill struggle. Both goals were down to defensive mistakes - the second goal was as a result of a break down the left, and with Rovers pushing forwards in search of the equaliser, there was far too much space available. The first goal was a defensive mix-up between the goalkeeper and defence, with Budtz coming out of his area to try to head the ball - he missed, which left Tranmere with the simple task of firing the ball into an unguarded net.
The result takes Rovers down to 18th place, just two points above the drop zone.

The Rovers' youth team defeated York City 2-0 at Cantley Park yesterday morning, with Luke Bythway and Liam Green scoring the Rovers goals.
The Rovers team for the game was: Lee Cockerham, Matthew Noble, Gerard Alonso, Andy Matthews, Rob Pacey, Adam Green, Adam Brown, Liam Green, Aaron Brittain, Adam Lee, Craig Nelthorpe
Substitutes: Luke Bythway (for Brittain, 59), Jason Flint (for Lee, 70) Ian Snodin (for Matthews, 75)
Rovers' youth team have been drawn against either Daisy Hill or Farsley Celtic in the FA Youth Cup. That tie will be played on 1st November.

Starting in League One, former Rovers striker Adebayo Akinfenwa opened the scoring for Swansea as they went on to thrash Chesterfield 5-1. In League Two, Richie Barker scored the first goal for Mansfield Town as they won 2-0 at Cheltenham, with both sides being reduced to ten men in the 90th minute.
In the Nationwide North, Ben Saunders continued his good form by scoring twice as Worksop drew 3-3 at home to Hednesford Town.
Finally, in the Scottish Third Division, Colin Cramb scored for Stenhousemuir as they won 2-0 at home to Arbroath, which keeps them in second place in the table.

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative have announced that they collected a total of £431.88 at yesterday's home game against Tranmere (£197.35 in the ground, and £234.53 in the Viking Bar).
That means that the running total has now risen to £39,182.50.

Doncaster Rovers were given another home draw in the Carling Cup this lunchtime when they were drawn against Premiership club Aston Villa for their first encounter since 1971, in the old Third Division. Rovers won that last meeting, at Belle Vue, 2-1, and the overall past match history between the two clubs also give optimism, with Rovers having a 3-1 victory record over Villa.
The full the draw is:
Bolton Wanderers v Leicester City
Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion
Doncaster Rovers v Aston Villa
Arsenal v Reading
Wigan Athletic v Newcastle United
Charlton Athletic v Blackburn Rovers
Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace
Millwall v Birmingham City
Matches are to be played during the week commencing Monday, 28th November.

Doncaster Rovers are likely to select from an unchanged squad for this afternoon's home game against stuggling Tranmere, although the combination of Paul Heffernan and Lewis Guy does give Dave Penney some food for thought when selecting the first eleven this afternoon.
Ricky Ravenill has been passed fit to play despite dislocating his shoulder during Tuesday's Carling Cup victory over Gillingham on Tuesday, and Steve Roberts is also expected to be fit desptie receiving a kick on the shin during the midweek game.
Sean Thornton is expected to remain on the bench as he continues his progress after ankle surgery, although he played the entire 90 minutes in the reserves on Tuesday.
Continuing absentees will be Jermaine McSporran, Tim Ryan and Andy Warrington.

Tranmere Rovers manager Brian Little looks likely to name an unchanged side for this afternoon's trip to Belle Vue, with Jason McAteer (knee) and Danny Harrison (nose) continuing to be unavailable. Apart from that, Little has a full squad to select his side from.
After narrowly missing promotion last season, Tranmere have surprisingly struggled this term, and currently sit in the bottom four in League One.

Mickey Walker is aiming at a top three place by Christmas as he expects Rovers' improving form to pay dividends. Speaking during the week, he said: "We have turned things around at home after a poor start to the season and Belle Vue has become a fortress again.
"The players were disappointed with the result at Walsall last week and I think that is why they played so well on Tuesday. I am sure that they will be up for tomorrow's game and they will be looking to win. We want to start climbing the table and I would like to think that we could be in the top three by Christmas.
"Tranmere haven't done as well as expected to do and a lot of people will be surprised at where they are in the table, but don't forget that we were bottom a few weeks ago. Other fancied teams are in the bottom half of the table, but I think you will find that the cream will rise to the top as we get further into the season.
"I would like to think that we will be one of the teams up there next May. We have a lot of respect for Tranmere and Brian Little's sides always work hard, but we are playing well at home and are hard to beat. There is a lot of competition for places and the players in the team know that they have to play well to stay there."

The draw for the fourth round of the Carling Cup will take place on Sky Sports shortly after noon today . Rovers are, of course, the only League One club remaining in the competition, and are in the draw with four Championship sides and eleven Premiership clubs.

After being appointed as caretaker manager at Scarborough, who are currently bottom of the Conference, former Rover Neil Redfearn has extended the former Rovers connection at the club by asking Eric Winstanley to assist him. Winstanley ran the Rovers youth team last season, and said: "He has got the credentials to be a good manager so I was more than willing to try and help." Winstanley was a coach at Barnsley when Redfearn helped the Oakwell club to promotion to the Premiership in 1997.

Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock has been reported to have said that Doncaster Rovers will have first refusal on Jonathan Forte, who is is allowing to go back out on loan following his recall for the Blades' Carling Cup game this week. Forte was recalled just short of the end of his second month at Rovers, but Warnock has now said "Clubs in our division have asked about Jonathan but out of courtesy I will speak to Doncaster first and see what they say."

Rovers manager Dave Penney expressed his pleasure that summer signing Paul Heffernan scored the match-winning brace of goals on Tuesday evening, with the hope that the goals will now flow. Penney said: "He's the best finisher I've seen in training. We paid good money for him to come here. He scores goals. Strikers need to score goals, it's as simple as that."
Heffernan accepts that, with the number of strikers vying for the two places in the team, he is not guaranteed a start on Saturday, even after his double strike against Gillingham.
He said: "You just have to try and get on and do what you can when you get the chance. There's big competition for places among the strikers. Hopefully I can get a game but you never know - that's up to the manager."

Former Rovers midfielder Neil Redfearn has been placed in temporary charge at Nationwide Conference club Scarborough, following the sacking of Nicky Henry last weekend. Scarborough, who are now bottom of the Conference, exited the FA Cup at the Fourth Qualifying Round stage on Saturday at the hands of Harrogate Town. Redfearn has been named as caretaker manager for Saturday's game with Aldershot Town whilst chairman Malcolm Reynolds assesses the situation.

The top two players voted for in the latest "Man of the Match" voting also coincidentally are the top two players for the whole season so far. Michael McIndoe won the voting by a clear margin, with defender Steve Roberts coming in second, marginally ahead of Paul Heffernan. With ten Rovers players receiving nominations, the leading votes were cast as follows:
1 Michael McIndoe (37.80%)
2 Steve Roberts (19.51%)
3 Paul Heffernan (18.29%)
4 Sean McDaid (9.76%)
Thank you to everyone who took part, although we had to rule out a number of obvious multiple votes for Heffernan and Roberts. The next vote will begin after Saturday's home game against Tranmere Rovers.

On another day of downpours, heavy rain made the pitch at Billingham Synthonia very soft for this Pontins Holiday League reserve team match. Rovers had most of the possession in a goalless first half, but the second half saw a wonder-strike from Adriano Rigoglioso fly into the net from 35 yards for what proved to be the only goal of the game. Rigoglioso was making his first appearance after a lengthy injury absence, with Sean Thornton also playing the full ninety minutes.
Phil McGuire had to be substituted with a supsected twisted knee after collding with the pitch side barriers late in the game.
Rovers side: Tonny Nielsen, Phil McGuire, Nick Fenton, Steve Foster, Dave Mulligan, Uros Predic, Sean Thornton, Adam Hughes, Craig Nelthorpe, Adriano Rigoglioso, Adam Lee
Substitutes: Luke Bythway (for Lee, 72), Robert Pacey (for McGuire, 72), Adam Brown (for Nelthorpe, 88), Aaron Brittain, Barry Richardson

Former Rovers striker Murray Jones was placed in temporary charge of Crawley Town at the weekend following the sacking of manager Francis Vines. Crawley, who have won just three times in the Conference so far, were elimited from the FA Cup by Braintree Town at the weekend, and the board felt it was time for a change. Jones, the assistant manager, was asked to be caretaker manager whilst the club consider the position further.

Rovers have finally confirmed that their first round FA Cup tie against Blackpool will be played on Sunday, 6th November with a 3pm kick-off. Whilst the game will not be all-ticket, tickets will go on sale on Thursday morning to season ticket holders. You are recommended to buy tickets in advance ifyou want to guarantee watching the game from a particular part of the ground.

Following last night's results, which saw holders Chelsea knocked out on penalties against Charlton Athletic, the last sixteen of the Carling Cup are now known.
They are: Middlesborough, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, Wigan Athletic, West Bromwich Albion, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Reading, Leicester City, Doncaster Rovers.
That means that not only are Rovers the only League One club left in the competition, but they are also the only representative from Yorkshire, with eleven Premiership clubs and four Championship clubs also remaining.

Doncaster Rovers made it through to the last sixteen of the Carling Cup as they beat Gillingham 2-0 at Belle Vue - but they left it late. The game had a goalless draw written all over it, with extra time looming, but two goals from substitute Paul Heffernan in the last six minutes was enough to defeat the Kent side.
Rovers join Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion, Millwall, Reading and Wigan in the last sixteen with the remaining seven ties to be played tomorrow evening.
The draw for the fourth round of the Carling Cup takes place on Saturday, 29th October.
The voting for the "Man of the match" has now closed, and the result will be announced on Friday morning.

The one thing certain about Doncaster Rovers' first round FA Cup tie against Blackpool is that it will not be played on Saturday, 5th November.
Rovers firstly agreed with Blackpool that the match would be played on the Friday night (4th November), but then the Blackpool chairman wanted it moving to the Sunday (6th November).
Rovers reported yesterday afternoon that the FA had ruled that the match would be played on the Sunday afternoon - but Rovers announced at last night's match that any previous announcements were still pending a decision by the FA. It transpires that South Yorkshire Police have approached the FA to request that the match be played on the Friday evening.
Blackpool's official web site is still reporting that, despite wishes from Rovers and the police, the FA ruled that the match will be played on the Sunday.
We understand that the FA will rule on when the match will be played some time today.

The youth team game at Lincoln City in the Youth Alliance has been rearranged, and will now take place on Friday 4th November at 12 noon.

Rovers have a reserve team game this evening when they fact Hartlepool United. The match, which kicks off at 7pm, will be played at Billingham Synthonia's ground.

The Retford branch of the Supporters Club, in conjunction with the disabled branch and the Junior Rovers, are holding a race night at the Rovers Return tomorrow evening (Thursday, 27th October), starting at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome.

Rovers manager Dave Penney has admitted that he cannot work out why his side are not more consistent in the league this season, following Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Walsall - but super performances against Barnsley and Southend United suggested they were on the brink of brisk climb up the table..
Rovers are in cup action tonight, with a great chance of a big money pay-day in round four, but, Penney says: "If we had won against Walsall we should have been looking forward to meeting Tranmere with a chance of getting into the real top part of the table, but we just can't get a consistent run going. For some reason while we have done well in the cup we have been mediocre in the league."

Jonathan Forte has been recalled to Sheffield United, and will be included in this evening's Carling Cup squad for the Blades' game against Reading.
Forte could not have played for Rovers this evening in any case, as he had turned out for Sheffield United in an earlier round of the competition.
However, Blades boss Neil Warnock has hinted that Forte would be allowed to return to Belle Vue again. However, it seems that, despite a glut of strikers at Bramall Lane, and Warnock's continual search for more, there is no prospect of Forte's transfer to Rovers being made permanent.

Rovers will give defender Simon Marples a late fitness test today after he picked up a "dead leg" injury in Saturday's match at Walsall. However, Rovers expect him to play - but Jonathan Forte will definitely miss the game after being recalled from his loan by Sheffield United. We expect the rest of the squad to be unchanged.
Long term injury victims Andy Warrington and Jermaine McSporran continue to be absent, and although Tim Ryan is expected to start training again, he will not be considered for this evening's game.

Gillingham will be without Neil Harris for this evening's Carling Cup tie at Belle vue, as he played for Nottingham Forest in a previous round, so is cup-tied. The Gills will also be without midfielder Danny Spiller, who is ruled out after leaving the ground after Saturday's defeat against Bradford City with a protective cast on his leg.
Defender Leon Johnson serves the second of a three match ban after being sent off in the LDV Trophy against Crawley last Tuesday, and goalkeeper Jason Brown is out for six weeks with a broken thumb sustained whilst training with the Welsh national squad. Striker Darren Byfield will be out for a fortnight with a knee injury, and Trinidad international defender Brent Sancho pulled a hamstring against Southend and is also out for two weeks. Added to the Gills' woes, striker Paul Shields sprained his ankle against Tranmere Rovers, and will be out for three weeks, and midfielder Alan Poulton is out for at least two months with a medial knee ligament injury.
Gillingham have been stuggling in League One this season, and are currently in 23rd position, after being relegated from the Championship last season. With the above injury list, you can understand some of the reasons why they find themselves there!

The voting for the "man of the match" from Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Walsall was understandably lower in numbers than it has been of late, and showed a remarkable spread of opinion on who was the best player on the day. It emerged that Stephen Roberts was the leader, abeit by a lesser margin than many votes have seen this season, with the remainder of the votes being fairly evenly spread throughout nine more players.
The players receiving the leading votes were:
1 Stephen Roberts (26,92%)
2 Ricky Ravenhill (15.39%)
3 Michael McIndoe, Mark Albrighton & Simon Marples (11.54% each)
Thank you to eveyone who took part in the poll. The next vote will open this evening following the Carling Cup game against Gillingham.

It's a rather brief list of former Doncaster Rovers players scoring goals this weekend, which also saw the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup being played. Whilst we didn't spot any ex-Rovers on the mark in the Cup, Richie Barker scored two for Mansfield Town as they beat Barnet 4-0 to lift the Stags off the bottom of League Two. In the Conference North, Stafford Rangers moved up to second in the table thanks to a 3-2 win at Leigh RMI, with Neil Grayson scoring one of the goals for Rangers.
In Scotland's Division Three, Colin Cramb scored a last minute goal for Stenhousemuir as he headed home from a corner, which was enough for them to win their home game against Queens Park, and maintains their second spot in the table.

Former Doncaster Rovers defender Gary Finley, who resigned as manager at Witton Albion earlier this month, has contacted the UniBond League to clarify the reasons why he left the club. Some reports in the media have not accurately recorded the events, suggesting that an incident in the tunnel after Witton's game at Bradford Park Avenue, which resulted in a player leaving the club, was to blame for his departure.
Finley has stated that the reason for his departure was purely because he had been informed that the playing budget had been reduced, which would have prevented him from achieving his ambition of promotion to the Conference North.
Witton's chairman, Mike Worthington, said:“Although we strive for success it cannot be achieved at an “any cost” policy. We were unable to meet the financial requirements to achieve the ambitions and expectations of Gary and consequently he felt he was unable to continue his career at Witton Albion. I have enjoyed working alongside Gary and on behalf of everyone at the club I wish him every success in the future.”

Doncaster Rovers manager Dave Penney will get to play his first home FA Cup tie since becoming manager in late 2001 after Rovers were drawn at home to Blackpool in the first round of the 2005/06 FA Cup. The ties are to be played on the weekend of 4/5/6 November - however, the November handicap is being run at Doncaster Racecourse on the Saturday, so presumably Rovers will have to play their match on either the Friday evening or Sunday. The last home FA Cup tie was on 17th November 2001 when they lost to Scunthorpe United in a first round match.

With all the expectation of the last few days following Rovers' win at Barnsley, this afternoon's game at Walsall was a disappointment when they went down to a 72nd minute goal by Jorge Leitao, which gave Walsall their third home win of the season. Dave Penney stuck by the side that defeated Southend last Saturday, although Lewis Guy and Sean Thornton earned places on the bench after impressing at Barnsley.

Whilst it may appear that Dave Penney has a selection headache to face today after his "reserves" beat Barnsley 5-2 on Tuesday evening, we expect only minimal changes to the squad for this afternoon's away game at Walsall. With confidence in the Rovers camp riding high, we expect that Rovers will name an unchanged first eleven from last Saturday's 2-0 win over leaders Southend United. However, Lewis Guy and Sean Thornton will be pushing hard for recalls after impressive performances on Tuesday, but we predict that they will both have to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench.
Definitely absent will be Andy Warrington, Jermaine McSporran and Tim Ryan, and with Steve Foster having suffered a black eye in an accidental clash of heads on Tuesday, we presume he will not be considered either.

Walsall are hoping that they will get back into winning ways this afternoon, having won only one of their last seven games. Manager Paul Merson has demanded that his players must match Rovers' high tempo style of play to get anything from today's game.
However, Merson has a number of injury concerns, with Simon Gillett, Steve Staunton, Chris Westwood, Darren Wrack, Daryl Taylor, Andy Oakes and Merson himself definitely missing the game. They do welcome back Ian Roper, Mark Wright, Michael Standing and Michael Standing after recovering from injury, and Simon Osborn has completed a one match suspension.

Rovers fans have an interest in two cup draws being made today, with the draw for the second round of the LDV Vans Trophy due to be made this morning at approximately 9.30am on Soccer AM.
The first round of the FA Cup will be drawn this afternoon at approximately 5.10pm, with the draw being made live on BBC1 and Sky Sports.

Doncaster Rovers' youth team have been drawn away in the first round of the FA Youth Cup, and will travel to either Farsley Celtic or Daisy Hill. The tie is to be played before 12th November 2005.

Rovers' record transfer signing Sean Thornton believes that he is now fully fit and is hoping to be back in first team action soon. He was the catalyst for Rovers' 5-2 victory at Barnsley, even though he only played the last twenty minutes of the match. He had an ankle operation earlier in the season to resolve a long standing injury problem, but he said: "I'm glad I had the operation to clear up the injury that has stopped me playing since I came here. It was good to be back as it's been a while now and it was good to be involved.I feel really strong and really fit with no problems."
Thornton looks set to be included in the squad for tomorrow's game at Walsall, although he is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench again.

Striker Lewis Guy was the clear winner in the latest "Man of the Match" voting, which was for the away LDV Vans Trophy game at Barnsley on Tuesday evening. He polled a little short of half of all votes cast, and more than twice as many as his nearest rival. With eight Rovers players receivign nominations, after discounting multiple votes, the results were:
1 Lewis Guy (43.40%)
2 Dave Mulligan (20.93%)
3 Richard Offiong (9.30%)
Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to place a vote. The next vote will open following Saturday's game at Walsall.

Tyrone Thompson, who played for Rovers whilst on loan from Sheffield United in the 2002/03 season, has agreed to stay at Halifax Town for the rest of the season. Thompson, now 24, joined Halifax from Scarborough in the summer on a monthly contract, but his performances have not only earned him a longer stay at The Shay, but also has been recognised by a call-up to England's non-league squad.

Dave Penney has expressed his surprise at the scoreline after his side, which showed eleven changes from the line-up that defeated Southend United last Saturday, beat Barnsley 5-2 on Tuesday evening. Whilst acknowledging that he put out a strong team, including three of the back four that played in the opening game of the season, he said: "I didn't think that we were going to come here and win 5-2. We were pleased with the strength of the team that we put out. Once we got the second goal the confidence went from Barnsley and we grew in it. But for 20 minutes in the second half it was even Steven."

A further £70.45 was put into the coffers of the Viking Supporters' Co-operative's "Coin Trail" on Tuesday night at the Barnsley match. This means that the new total, which is all being given towards the cost of running the Rovers' youth team, is now £38,411,32.

Two events are being held this evening by Doncaster Rovers. A sportsman's dinner is being held at the Earl of Doncaster, with their guest speaker being the former Liverpool player Neil Ruddock. Tickets for a table of ten is £350. For more information, or to book a table, phone 01302 379327.
A "Ladies Beauty Night" is taking place at the Rovers Return this evening. However, all tickets have now been sold for this event, and no tickets will therefore be available either on the door or from Rovers' reception.

In a look at the goals scored by former Doncaster Rovers players in this week's midweek matches, we begin in the Championship, where Chris Brown scored for Hull City in their 1-1 home draw against high-flying Reading.
The LDV Vans Trophy saw two ex-Rovers scoring - Mark Rankine put Tranmere ahead as they beat Lincoln City 2-1, and Adebayo Akinfenwa scored Swansea City's second goal in the 86th minute as they won 3-1 at Torquay United.
In the Nationwide North, Steve Brodie put Droylsden ahead, but their match at Hyde United finished 2-2.

Doncaster Rovers have two representatives named in the League One "Team of the Week" on the Football League web site, with Ricky Ravenhill and Steve Roberts beign named for their performances in the Southend United game.
The "Team of the Week" also includes ex-Rover Paul Crichton, who Rovers will come up against next Tuesday when Gillingham arrive at Belle Vue for their Carling Cup game.
The full "Team of the week" for League One is: Paul Crichton (Gillingham), Osei Sankofa (Bristol City), Paul Reid (Barnsley), Izzy Iriekpen
(Swansea), Stephen Roberts (Doncaster), Jonathan Worthington (Huddersfield), Stephen Quinn (Milton Keynes Dons), Stephen Turnbull
(Hartlepool), Ricky Ravenhill (Doncaster), Phil Jevons (Yeovil), Billy Sharp(Scunthorpe)

Much travelled former Rovers striker Micky Norbury has signed for Wakefield Emley for a second time this week as he completed a transfer from Nationwide North club Goole AFC. The 36-year old striker also names Cambridge United, Telford United, Hednesford Town, Stocksbridge Park Steels, Belper Town and Ossett Albion as his former clubs.

First round matches played last night (Boston v Huddersfield Town is to be played this evening)

A remarkable scoreline - not one that many would have predicted before the match started - saw Rovers eventually go through comfortably into the second round of the LDV Vans Trophy at Oakwell.
Rovers went behind early on as Steve Foster put through his own goal - but then it all went Rovers' way. Lewis Guy equalised seven minutes before the break, and the score remained at 1-1 until the 71st minute. The second own goal of the game saw Kay put the ball into his own net 19 minutes from the end to give Rovers the lead, then eight minutes later Richard Offiong scored a great goal to extend Rovers' lead. The third own goal of the evening came as Austin scored Rovers' fourth goal, and Lewis Guy hit Rovers' fifth in impressive style, with his performance doing nicely to persuade Dave Penney for a recall for Saturday's league game. Nardiello scored a consolation goal seconds from the end of the game, but it was too late to make any real difference to the outcome of the game.
The draw for the second round will be made on Sky Sports on Saturday morning.

Doncaster Rovers look set to make several changes to their side for this evening's away LDV Vans Trophy game at Barnsley. With five first team games in a fortnight, Dave Penney has said he will use several players in the squad in this evening's game.
Definitely missing will be injury victims Tim Ryan, Jermaine McSporran and Andy Warrington, but a number of other players returning from injury could take some part in the game. Tonny Nielsen and Sean Thornton may well make their first appearances after regaining fitness after long injury absences, and we expect defender Simon Marples to make another appearance after an impressive first team return on Saturday.

Reports from Barnsley suggest that they are likely to name a full strength side for this evening's game at Oakwell. They are strengthened by the return of Neil Austin and Antony Kay after completing three match suspensions, earned by their red cards against Rovers at the end of last month. Kay is likely to replace Paul Reid, who had five stitches in an eye wound on Saturday before being substituted with a hamstring strain. Barnsley will make a change of goalkeeper, with Scott Flinders replacing Nick Colgan, whilst Stephen McPhail and Marc Richards may well be given a start after appearing as second half substitutes on Saturday against Blackpool.

The Rovers' youth team won 1-0 at Scunthorpe United on Saturday. Unfortunately no details of the scorer of the Rovers goal are currently available.

Rovers midfielder Ricky Ravenhill emerged slightly ahead of the field in the latest "Man of the Match" voting for the Southend United game on Saturday. With nine Rovers players receiving nominations, there were only realistically three candidates for the lead, with the most votes being cast as follows:
1 Ricky Ravenhill (27.38%)
2 Steve Roberts (23.81%)
3 Mark Albrighton (21.43%)
4 Simon Marples (10.71%)
This result lifts Steve Roberts into third place in the "Player of the Season" (behind Andy Warrington and Michael McIndoe), despite missing many matches earlier this season.
Thank you to everyone who voted. The next vote will open later this evening following the LDV Vans Trophy game at Barnsley.

Dave Penney made a point of praising the performance of his side after they brought Southend's eight match winning run to a half on Saturday afternoon.
Penney said: "It was an excellent performance because Southend came here on the back of a tremendous run and played some really good football in the first half. It was end to end before the break and it was frustrating when we missed chances, but it all came right in the end. It was an unbelievable strike that made the breakthrough for us. Ricky practises those in training but to produce it in a match is something else. We always knew it would be tough but we just seem to have a knack of beating the teams at the top."

Our goals round-up this week begins in the Nationwide North, where Dino Maamria scored Stevenage Borough's second goal from the penalty spot on their way to a 3-1 win over Accrington Stanley. Kettering are reported to be about to be taken over, with Paul Gascoigne expected to be unveiled as their new manager next week. The new owners are reported to have ambitions about aiming for Football League status within a five year plan, which will also see the club turn full time.
Alson the Nationwide North, Jamie Paterson scored Kettering Town's third goal as they crushed Leigh RMI 4-0.
Ben Saunders, who only joined Worksop Town on a month's loan this week, had an ideal start to his career at Worksop by scoring after just five minutes. Worksop won the match against Hucknall Town 2-1.

Tim Ryan's achilles tendon injury has means that he continues to be missing from the Rovers side, and despite all the scans revealing no damage to the tendon, he is experiencing discomfort as soon as he starts to run. He has had further treatment this week which Rovers hope will speed up his recovery, having a "green needle" treatment which is aimed at improving the blood supply to the affected area.
Ryan has been absent from the side for six weeks, with Sean McDaid deputising well in the left back position.