September 30, 2009

What the managers said

Doncaster Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll admitted that he was happy to come out of last night's game against Swansea City.
He said: "They are better than us in a lot of aspects, but I thought we kept going and that was probably a point won rather than two points lost. We have conceded goals where someone has made a mistake but the chances they created were down to good football and passing and movement. Every time we play Swansea they set the standard. We've had to sell a couple of players and we had a couple of guys out through injury so we have not got that fluidity that they have got. I'd watch them every week if I could."
Swansea boss Paulo Sousa was a frustrated man after the match after his players missed a number of chances for his team to have taken all three points back to South Wales last night. He commented: "There is a big frustration, not just for me but for all the players. I am very proud of the work the lads put in. In the first half we got our strategy right and we had a minimum of four clear opportunities to score. Games like this, and the recent game at Barnsley, have to be won as games like this can put us in a completely different position in the table. It is not only about Gorka Pintado, the most important thing for me is to see a minimum of three or four players in the box attacking the areas we need to attack. I am happy with what happened but I am frustrated because we deserved two more points and we didn't get them."

September 30, 2009

Injury update

James Coppinger and Jason Shackell missed last night's goalless draw with Swansea due to injury.
Coppinger missed the game after training on Monday, but his calf injury suffered a reaction on Tuesday morning, which meant he was unfit to play.
Jason Shackell pulled up in the pre-match warm-up of Saturday's match, but he trained as normal on Monday.
Sean O'Driscoll said: "With Jason we're not quite sure what the injury is but if there is no recurrence and he feels fine he should be fit for Saturday, as should James Coppinger."

September 30, 2009

Around the goals

We begin our review of former Rovers players scoring goals in last night's matches in the Championship, where the unfortunate Shelton Martis scored in his own goal as West Bromwich Albion lost 3-1 at Barnsley.
In League One, Darren Byfield scored from the penalty spot in the 66th minute as Walsall won at home 2-1 against Huddersfield Town.
In League Two, the former Rovers loan defender, scored for Crewe in the 39th minute as they went down to a 3-2 home defeat against Bury.
Finally, Jason Walker, who was at Rovers on trials during the summer, scored another two goals for Barrow in the Blue Square Premier League as they won 3-1 at home to Mansfield Town.

September 29, 2009

Rovers 0 Swansea City 0

Some matches are highly entertaining goalless draws, full of incident, goal scoring chances and silky skills. And some are not. This evening's match at the Keepmoat Stadium was certainly in the 'not' category, with the vast majority of passes going astray and Rovers failing to land any serious shots on target. The closest Rovers came to scoring came within seconds of the restart after half time when John Spicer charged through to graze the outside of the post. For all that, Rovers could have been three or four goals down in the first quarter of an hour, with Neil Sullivan pulling off a couple of good saves to deny Swansea - and a couple of incredible misses by Swansea's Gorka Pintado, who managed not to make contact with a couple of low crosses in from their right wing. After that, the match was bogged down in midfield, with neither side able to carve out any good chances, with the Rovers strikers forced to feed on scraps of chances.
Rovers have now drawn seven out of their ten matches played, with Swansea having drawn five to date and find themselves in 17th place, just five points ahead of bottom placed Plymouth and Ipswich.

September 29, 2009

Sub-standard programme reduced to £1!

Doncaster Rovers have issued a statement saying that this evening's match day programme has been reduced to £1 as "the publication does not meet the Club's standards of printing".
The club moved the printing contract of the match day programme to O Publishing, who are based in Penzance, Cornwall, during the summer after being with Colourplan for the previous four years.
This is the latest blow for the programme after being criticised by fans last season for the content and excess advertising content.

September 29, 2009

Rovers v Swansea

Doncaster Rovers will be forced into making at least two changes to their side for this evening's home game against Swansea City. John Oster and Quinton Fortune will miss the game as they begin three match bans after being sent off on Saturday against Scunthorpe United. They will also make a late decision over the fitness of defender Jason Shackell, who pulled out of Saturday's match after being injured during the pre-match warm-up, but it looks unlikely that he will play, meaning that Sam Hird looks set to partner Adam Lockwood in central defence.
It looks likely that James Coppinger will be fit to play this evening, despite leaving the field on a stretcher on Saturday with a calf injury.
Swansea's player availability is similarly hit this evening, with a horrendous injury list being made worse by suspensions to Nathan Dyer and Jordi Lopez.
Ferrie Bodde joins the long injury list with a knee injury that has ended his season, with the following also missing: Andrea Orlandi (thigh), Fede Bessone (groin), Joe Allen (hamstring), Guillem Bauza (knee), Kristian O'Leary (knee) and Albert Serran (ankle), with Leon Britton (toe), Marcos Painter (calf) and Cedric van Gun (thigh) all facing late fitness tests.

September 29, 2009

Tonight's match officials

The match officials for this evening's home game against Swansea City have been confirmed as:
Referee: A. Haines
Assistant Referees: M.J. Denton & J. Whiteley
Fourth official: D. Handley

September 28, 2009

Billy apologises for celebration

Rovers striker Billy Sharp apologised to the Scunthorpe fans yesterday for his exuberant celebrations after scoring against his old club on Saturday at Glanford Park.
As Sharp explained: “It was my first goal for Donny. I didn’t want to celebrate but I was getting some stick from the fans. I don’t mind that but I didn’t think I deserved it and I was just giving some back. Obviously they didn’t take it the right way."
“I love the fans here, they were brilliant with me while I was here for two years. It was nothing against them; I was just enjoying the fact that I scored. I’d not scored for a bit so I was just delighted that I had scored. You know you’re going to get booked if you take your shirt off. It was just heat of the moment, I was happy to get the goal and disappointed that we didn’t get the win. I don’t think I would have done that if it had been at the other end. It wasn’t an 'Adebayor', but I was just delighted and it was the heat of the moment. I had two of my best seasons here and might not have seasons like that again, but I'd like to apologise to the fans. It was just a bit of banter as they were giving me a lot of stick. But if they want me to apologise - then I’m happy to say sorry now.”

September 28, 2009

O'Driscoll - Oster should know better

Sean O'Driscoll conceded that referee Keith Stroud had little choice with the incidents that led to Rovers being reduced to nine men on Saturday. Of John Oster's red card, O'Driscoll said: “John should know better. He claims he was pushed but you can’t react.”

September 28, 2009

Danny on target

One former Rovers player that we missed in yesterday's goal scoring round up was Danny Cadamarteri, who scored for Dundee United in the 34th minute from the penalty spot in their 3-2 win at St Johnstone. The result lifts the Tangerines into the European qualification places, but leaves St Johnstone at the botttom of the Scottish Premier League.

September 28, 2009

Sheffield United ticket info

Tickets for Saturday's away game at Sheffield United go on general sale this morning at the Keepmoat Stadium ticket office. Until now, they have been available to season ticket holders and members, and the stadium ticket office are currently reporting that 1,244 of the 2,986 allocation have been sold so far.
Ticket prices for the match are as follows:
Adults £26
Senior Citizens/U18s/Students (with NUS card) £16
U16s £8
Ambulant/Wheelchair disabled £16 (carer goes free - spaces limited)

September 26, 2009

Scunthorpe 2 Rovers 2

Rovers gave away a two goal lead at Glanford Park this afternoon, although their cause was not helped by finishing with only nine men, with John Oster and Quinton Fortune being sent off in an eventful second half.
Rovers had gone ahead in the 13th minute from the penalty spot after James Coppinger was brought down as he surged into the penalty area. Martin Woods fired home the spot kick to give Rovers a deserved lead - and it got better in the 61st minute when former Scunthorpe hero Billy Sharp powerfully headed home.
The game appeared to be going Rovers' way comfortably until John Oster was shown a straight red card in the 69th minute for an off the ball incident, and within a couple of minutes, Scunthorpe had pulled a goal back after Rovers failed to successfully defend a corner. Rovers were reduced to nine players in the 87th minute when Quinton Fortune was dismissed for a foul on Scunthorpe defender Cliff Byrne, and they were hanging on grimly as Scunthorpe pushed forward in search of the equaliser.
Rovers so very nearly got away with it, but in the third minute of added time, Martin Woods was penalised for handball in the Rovers area, with Grant McCann firing his penalty kick home past Neil Sullivan.

September 27, 2009

What the managers said

Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll had no complaints about the two sendings off in yesterday's lively encounter against Scunthorpe United. He said: "Up until John Oster's sending off we were in total control. John knows better, he claims he got punched by someone else and reacted but you can't react, he knows that, so no complaints. Quinton Fortune he is a wholehearted player who tackles strongly. When he gets it right we think it is good but when he gets it wrong he ends up in trouble. He missed the ball and left the referee with no choice.'
He continued: "Last week I was really disappointed with some aspects of our play but today we were excellent and I am not going to let the last 15 minutes taint it. On the last 15 minutes a draw was the fair result but I'm disappointed because we thought we were going to win by three or four and in the end we were hanging on."
Understandably, Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins was delighted to grab a point out of a game that looked out of their grasp until the last fifteen minutes. He conceded: "They did a great job on us. They were on top in the first half. It was great character shown to come from two goals down to go and get something out of the game, good discipline to keep 11 players on the pitch and great entertainment for the supporters. First half to Doncaster, second to Scunthorpe."
On the first red card of the afternoon, Adkins said: "John Oster's sending off was a big turning point. We've tried to look on the video and can't see anything, but Grant McCann needed five or six stitches in a facial would. What happened I don't know, but the officials saw something. We quickly brought Garry Thompson on to add more width and Cliff Byrne popped up with a great goal before we got a deserved equaliser. It was great character shown to come from two goals down to go and get something out of the game, good discipline to keep 11 players on the pitch and great entertainment for the supporters."

September 27, 2009

Youth Team 2 Hartlepool United 4

The Rovers' youth team slumped to a 4-2 home defeat against Hartlepool United at Cantley Park yesterday lunchtime, with Lee Mason (2) and Anthony Wakefield (2) the Hartlepool scorers. Unfortunately we do not yet have details of who scored the Rovers goals.

September 27, 2009

Around the goals

We begin our review of former Rovers players scoring goals by including one that we missed from Tuesday evening's matches. Ex-Rovers striker Gareth Taylor scored twice in the first half as Wrexham beat Luton Town 3-0, which means Taylor has now scored six league goals this season out of Wrexham's 11 goals in total.
In yesterday's action we drop down into the UniBond League Division One (South), where Neil Grayson scored the only goal of the game as Glapwell won 1-0 at Kidsgrove Athletic.
Ex-Rovers defender Danny George scored for Spalding United on the stroke of half time as they fought out a 1-1 home draw against Rushall Olympic.

September 26, 2009

Scunthorpe v Rovers

Doncaster Rovers travel to Scunthorpe United today keen to register their first away win of the season, which has seen five draws from the opening eight games. Team selection for the game, which kicks off at midday, will be interesting, with Billy Sharp likely to line up for Rovers against his old club, whilst Jonathan Forte looks to be in with a good chance of facing Rovers for the first time since joining Scunthorpe.
Rovers will, of course, be without skipper Brian Stock, who is out until after Christmas after having an ankle operation this week. Stock joins long-term injury victims Steve Brooker and Sean McDaid on the sidelines.
James Coppinger is in with a chance of being included for today's game. He resumed training this week after recovering from an ankle injury, but James Hayter only resumed training on Thursday, and today's game may well come a little too soon for him.
Rovers look as though they will stick with a strike partnership of Waide Fairhurst and Billy Sharp, although Paul Heffernan returned to the squad last weekend and played in the behind-closed-doors game at Leicester during the week.
Rovers will be hoping that they will have a fitness advantage going in to today's game, with Scunthorpe being taken to extra time in their Carling Cup game on Tuesday evening.
Scunthorpe will make late decisions on two players before naming their side to face Rovers. Goalkeeper Joe Murphy was forced off after trapping a nerve in his arm after 23 minutes of their Carling Cup game against Port Vale, but seems to be responding to treatment and is likely to play. Sub keeper Sam Slocombe will get his first Championshp start for the club if Murphy fails to make it.
Leading goalscorer Gary Hooper is also rated as doubtful to play after missing Tuesday's game with a hamstring injury - Jonathan Forte looks set to play against his former club if Hooper misses out.
Definitely missing will be striker Ben May (ankle ligament) and Gary Thompson (foot injury).
The match is being broadcast live on BBC Radio Sheffield.

September 26, 2009

Match officials confirmed

The match officials for today's game at Scunthorpe United have been confirmed as:
Referee: K. Stroud
Assistant referees: N. Bannister & P. Thompson
Fourth official: C Boyeso

September 26, 2009

Oster keen to stay at Rovers

Rovers midfielder John Oster is hoping to stay at Doncaster Rovers longer than the intial six months contract he signed in the summer, and the fact that he is both enjoying his football at the club and playing regular first team football must boost the chance of a new deal being on offer in January.
Speaking ahead of today's local derby against Scunthorpe, Oster said: "It's been a great move so far. I've been playing regularly, which is what I wanted. You want to be playing football because at 30 years of age it is not really beneficial to be sat on the bench. I've been fortunate to have been in the team for most games but I know that I've got to play well because there is a lot of competition for places. But I think that goes for everybody in the team. If you aren't up to scratch there are people wanting to come in and take your place. You can only do what you are put on the pitch to do. I'd say at the moment that I'm playing in a role which maximises my input."
"I'm enjoying my football. We like to entertain and the manager wants us to play good football. It is not always possible but we like to get the ball down and play whenever we can. I don't think that our position in the league reflects how well we've played. We have only lost two league games and they've both been against teams who were playing in the Premier Division last season - and they were both away from home. So it's not all doom and gloom. If we can turn some of the draws into wins then I don't think that this league will be a problem for us."

September 25, 2009

Stock out for three months

Rovers skipper Brian Stock has been ruled out of action for at least three months after having surgery on his injured ankle yesterday. Remarkably it seems that during the operation, it turned out that Stock had also broken a bone, which means that the injury is more serious and will accordingly take longer to recover from. The Rovers midfielder has been playing with the injury since the summer without any improvement, but a knock against Reading which forced the issue.
As Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll said: "He is facing a lengthy rehab with a best-case scenario of at least three months. It's a massive blow for us. Brian had gone in for an exploratory operation on his ankle and the surgeon found one or two problems that he thought he could do while he was under. I'm not sure what they are yet but, as I say, you are looking at 12 weeks."
O'Driscoll continued: "Brian's ankle was becoming progressively worse and it was taking longer to get back into any sort of shape. Probably the West Bromwich Albion game was a game too far. He wanted to play but in hindsight we should have pulled him out of that of that one. Brian wasn't fit to play against Ipswich last Saturday and once he'd had the ankle scanned the surgeon wanted to have a look inside."

September 25, 2009

Newcastle tickets info

Although tickets have not yet been received for the away game at Newcastle United on Saturday, 24th October, arrangements for the sale of tickets have already been announced.
Tickets will go on sale to season ticket holders on Monday, 28th September, with members and Rovers Alliance members also being able to buy tickets from Monday, 5th October.
Any tickets remaining unsold will go on general sale on Monday, 12th October.
Ticket prices will be:
Adults £20
Senior Citizens (65+) & students in full time education £15
Under 18s £10
Ambulant & wheelchair disabled: £10 (carer free)

September 25, 2009

Ameobi signs up at last

Former Doncaster Rovers striker Tomi Ameobi has signed for Blue Square Premier club Forest Green Rovers after being on trials at a number of clubs since leaving the Keepmoat Stadium at the end of last season.
He becomes Forest Green boss Dave Hockaday's seventh signing since he took over at the New Lawn two weeks ago, and goes straight into the squad for tomorrow's home game against Grays Athletic.

September 24, 2009

Stock has op on ankle

Brian Stock, Doncaster Rovers' captain, will be missing from the side for at least a month after having an exploratory operation on his ankle yesterday. Rumours of an ankle injury have been circulating for a few days, but the Doncaster Free Press have today reported that he has had surgery to resolve the problem.
Stock was substituted during last Tuesday's away game at West Bromwich Albion, and missed Saturday's home draw against Ipswich Town.

September 24, 2009

Hayter set for return

Striker James Hayter could be included in the squad for Satruday's away game at Scunthorpe after recovering from a groin injury, but may be kept out of the starting eleven by Waide Fairhurst, who has scored in both of the last two games. Hayter is due to resume full training today, and as long as he does not suffer an adverse reaction, is likely to be included in the squad for Saturday's game.

September 24, 2009

Players on the comeback trail

The Doncaster Star has reported that James O'Connor played the whole of Tuesday's practice match at Leicester City, which marks the first full game he has played since recovering from a medial knee ligament injury.
Striker Paul Heffernan played an hour of th game, as did midfielder Jack Wilson, who signed for the club just ahead of the transfer deadline.
Interestingly, they also report that Stuart Elliott played for 30 minutes after recovering from a back problem that has been troubling him recently.

September 24, 2009

Sheffield United ticket info

Tickes for the away game at Sheffield United on Saturday, 3rd October are now on sale to season ticket holders and members from the Keepmoat Stadium ticket office.
Rovers have received an allocation of 2,986 tickets, with 900 already sold. Any tickets remaining unsold will go on general sale on Monday, 28th September, although there is no mention of how many tickets can be sold to each applicant.
Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults £26
Senior Citizens/U18s (16-17yrs)/Students (with valid NUS card) £16
Under 16s £8
Ambulant/Wheelchair disabled (with carer free) £16 - only limited spaces available

September 23, 2009

Quinton eyes World Cup place

Rovers midfielder Quinton Fortune is hoping that his wonder-strike on Saturday against Ipswich Town will lead to a regular first team place - which may give him a chance of being selected for a place in South Africa's side in the 2010 World Cup.
The spectacular strike cane six minutes from the end of Saturday's game, but Fortune conceded that he did not expect to score. He told the Doncaster Star: "I truthfully expected the shot to go into the stand. There was nothing to lose and I tried my luck, and for once it worked out. I did score a goal in training the other week - they are so rare I can even remember them - but can't remember a competitive goal since my Old Trafford days."
As far as his chances of playing in the World Cup are concerned, Quinton continued: "I need to get on the field and show what I can do. It is my belief that if I play well this season that I could be picked."
He has played for his country over fifty times, although his last appearance for South Africa was over four years ago.

September 23, 2009

Behind closed doors game for Rovers

Doncaster Rovers played the latest of their 'behind closed doors' games yesterday afternoon, when they travelled to play at Leicester City. They used the game to give a number of players who have not featured regularly in recent matches, including Mark Wilson, Byron Webster, Sam Hird, Ben Smith, Paul Heffernan and James O'Connor.

September 23, 2009

Rovers not missing duo?

Rovers defender Adam Lockwood thinks that the side are not missing Richie Wellens and Matt Mills this season as much as many fans had expected. Rovers have made a reasonable start to the new season, with Lockwood commenting: "We've been playing well in some games, we've put in some good performances and it's been a solid start. Now we want to start turning some of these draws into wins and the players in the squad are capable of doing that."
Of the departure of two of last season's key players, Lockwood said: "It's given other people opportunities and allowed us to use the whole squad and so far I don't think anyone has let anyone down. It's harder than ever to get wins in this division. You have to work really hard to get points on the board, but we feel the players here are good enough to push on."
However, Rovers look set to be tested in the next month with skipper Brian Stock sidelined with an ankle injury that kept him out of Saturday's game against Ipswich. Whilst the club have not mentioned his absence at all, what appear to be well-informed sources suggest that Stock will be out for around five weeks.

September 22, 2009

Scunny tickets all sold

Doncaster Rovers have confirmed that they have sold all of the allocation given to the club for Saturday's away game at Scunthorpe United. The final 200 tickets were sold on Monday, meaning that the entire 2,230 allocation are now sold. The match has been confirmed as all-ticket for supporters of both sides, meaning you should not travel to the match if you do not have a ticket.

September 22, 2009

Mansfield Town 2 Youth Team 3

The Doncaster Rovers youth team won their Youth Alliance game 3-2 on Saturday, which was played at Sutton Town's ground. Unfortunately there is no further information currently available.

September 22, 2009

O'Kelly praises new strike partnership

Rovers assistant manager Richard O'Kelly hs spoken glowingly of the strike partnership being formed between young Waide Fairhurst and Billy Sharp. Fairhirst has scored in his first two starts for the club, and O'Kelly believes that the presence of Sharp has helped bring the best out of Fairhirst, who is in his first season as a professional player.
O'Kelly said: "Waide got into a good area for his goal and that's something we spoke about. He and Billy have worked well together again, so we were pleased with that. Waide has now scored two in two games and I'd imagine that Billy has had an influence because he's affected the game. We're pleased with Waide. Ever since he came into the professional ranks he's shown loads of enthusiasm and he's worked hard."

September 22, 2009

Voting results

It was a close-run thing for the voting in the "Man of the Match" for Saturday's home game against Ipswich Town, but eventually, young striker Waide Fairhurst just finished ahead of midfielder John Oster. We received nominations for eleven players, with the most votes being allocated as follows:
1 Waide Fairhurst (26.56%)
2 John Oster (25.0%)
3 Martin Wods (18.75%)
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to place their vote. The next poll will open following Saturday's away game at Scunthorpe United.

September 19, 2009

Rovers 3 Ipswich Town 3

A the end of the first half, no-one would have predicted that the final score would be 3-3, with goal scoring chances at a premium and just one goal scored - a great finish from Waide Fairhurst, who has now scored in both of his starts this season.
Rovers had another setback ahead of the kick-off when skipper Brian Stock pulled out with an ankle injury - they had already lost James Hayter and James Coppinger due to injury, with Billy Sharp and Waide Fairhurst continuing their partnership up front. The usual flowing passing by Rovers was more stuttering in the first half, although Ipswich, who have not won a match yet this season, posed little threat to Neil Sullivan.
The second half was a different story, however, with Ipswich pressing forward in search of an equaliser, which duly came in the 66th minute. Rovers were back in front in the 74th minute with a nice strike from 20 yards by Martin Woods following an imaginitive corner which was pulled back rather than the usual cross into the goal mouth.
Ipswich were level within three minutes when Tomas Priskin exposed a huge gap in the middle of the Rovers defence to head home. Things went from bad to worse in the 79h minute when they failed to clear the ball on numerous occasions, with the ball finally being forced home by Lee Martin.
Just when it looked as though Rovers' luck was out, a great striker from 25 yards by substitute Quinton Fortune levelled it for Rovers - and despite efforts by both sides in the closing minutes, the score remained at 3-3.

September 20, 2009

What the managers said

Both managers were unhappy with the peformane of their defences in yesterday's match at the Keepmoat Stadium, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll said: "I thought it was a poor performance. We didn't get out of first gear and we haven't played like that for a long time. You can talk about the goals we scored, but they hide a multitude of sins. We pride ourselves on our level of performance and I didn't think it was anywhere near what we are capable of. I thought we lacked ideas and didn't do a lot of things that we've done well week in, week out."
His counterpart at Ipswich, Roy Keane, said: "I think we gave bad goals away. You always think if you score three goals away from home you're going to win the game and in terms of going forward this was our most encouraging display. I certainly think we had the better of the chances and when you are 3-2 up with five or 10 minutes to go you would hope you can see the game out. But that's the way it's going for us at the moment. It's certainly going to be one of those seasons where it's going to be a long, tough battle for us and we're going to have to give some players the benefit of the doubt as they settle into the football club both on and off the pitch.

September 20, 2009

Coaches to Scunthorpe

The Supporters Club are running coaches to the game at Scunthorpe United next Saturday. With it being a midday kick-off, the coaches leave Retford at 9.30am, Bawtry 9.45pm, Harworth Pit Gates 9.35am, Rossington Styrrup 9.45pm, Hare & Tortoise 9.50am, Doncaster Royal Infirmary 10.00am and Keepmoat Stadium Car Park 1 at 10.15am.
The fares will be:
Members £8.00 OAP's £7.00 U16's £6.00
Non-Members £10.00 OAP's £9.00 U16's £8.00
To book a place on the coach, please phone Harry Bacon (01302 854626), Len South (01302 817347) or Paul Mayfield (01427 880154).

September 20, 2009

Goals check

We begin our review of former Rovers players scoring goals this week in the Championship, where Chris Brown scored twice for Preston North End in their 3-2 home win over Coventry City.
In League Two, Jack Lester scored in the 32nd minute for Chesterfield as they beat Macclesfield 4-1 at Saltergate.
The fortunes of defender Chris Swailes in the Blue Square Premier were not as good - not only did he get booked, but he scored an own goal in the 25th minute as Gateshead went down 3-2 to Kidderminster Harriers.
The Blue Square North saw Warren Peyton on the score sheet as he equalised for Stalybridge Celtic in their game at Alfreton Town. Stalybridge ended up winning the game 5-3.

September 19, 2009

Rovers v Ipswich

Sean O'Driscoll will give late fitness checks to Paul Heffernan, James Coppinger, Gareth Roberts and James Hayter before naming his team for this afternoon's home game against Ipswich Town. Hayter and Coppinger are rated as no more than 50/50 by physio John Dickens, but Paul Heffernan looks as though he will be included this afternoon after resuming training. As long as he suffers no adverse reaction to training, Heffernan will be in today's squad.
With the doubt over these players, O'Driscoll may well give the partnership of Waide Fairhurst and Billy Sharp another outing after it did well at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.
James O'Connor is now fully fit and available after replacing the injured Gareth Roberts on Tuesday, but striker Lewis Guy will not be included in the squad due to what is understood to be club disciplinary issues.
Ipswich are on the way to making their worst start to a season for 45 years - if they fail to win today, it will be the first time since 1964/65 that they have failed to win any of their opening eight matches. They are not helped by the suspension of defender Gareth McAuley,with recent signings Liam Rosenior (eye) and Carlos Edwards (hamstring) also likely to miss the game.
McAuley is likely to be replaced by either Pim Balkestein or Tommy Smith, with David Wright likely to replace Rosenior if the loanee from Reading fails to recover from a swollen eye suffered in the game against Nottingham Forest.
Ipswich will be missing the longer term injury victims Luciano Civelli (knee) and David Norris (knee), but despite being fully fit, defender Ben Thatcher will not feature, with boss Roy Keane saying: "Ben Thatcher is not in my thoughts. He is fit but there are a number of issues with attitude in training and reporting for work on time among them."

September 19, 2009

Robbie to Boston in loan move

Young midfielder Robbie Clark has joined Boston United, on a month's loan. He will stay with the UniBond Premier League side until 18th October.
Clark was handed his first professional contract at the end of last season after impressing in the youth team, but has not been given an opportunity in the first team so far this season.

September 19, 2009

Budtz joins Eastwood

Former Doncaster Rovers goalkeeper Jan Budtz joined Eastwood Town yesterday and goes into their home game against AFC Telford for this afternoon's match.
Budtz was released by Hartlepool United at the end of last season and has been connected with a number of clubs in the north-east of England. Budtz spent the end of last season on loan at Oldham Athletic after losing his place in the Hartlepool side.

September 18, 2009

Apologies

We would like to apologise for the late updating of this website today. This has been caused by the transfer of the site to a new server, which our hosting company have carried out two days earlier than we requested, along with associated log-in problems. We hope that the problem is now resolved.

September 18, 2009

Injury concerns ahead of Ipswich game

Doncaster Rovers will be without striker James Hayter for tomorrow's home game against Ipswich Town. Hayter, who also missed Tuesday's game at West Bromwich Albion, is suffering from a groin injury and has missed training this week.
Rovers also have doubts over the fitness of James Coppinger and Gareth Roberts, but final decisions will be made after today's training session. Coppinger missed the game on Tuesday with a groin strain, whilst Roberts limped off with what appeared to be an ankle injury during the first half.
There is better news about Paul Heffernan, who missed the last couple of matches with a groin strain. Heffernan has regained full fitness, has trained in the last couple of days and is available for selection for tomorrow's game.
Whilst hoping that Heffernan will be available for the Ipswich game, boss Sean O'Driscoll will have no hesitation about playing Waide Fairhurst and Billy Sharp if necessary.
O'Driscoll said: "I thought that they interacted well with the rest of the team as well as with each other at West Brom on Tuesday. There are things to work on as a partnership, but it was a good begining."
Sean McDaid has a further week to spend at the FA's rehabilitation centre at Lilleshall, after which he is expected to resume light training.

September 18, 2009

Scunny tickets - not many left!

It looks likely that Rovers fans will have bought all of the allocation given to the club by Scunthorpe United for their fixture at Glanford Park next Saturday. The Keepmoat Stadium website is reporting that 2,001 of the 2,230 allocation have now been sold.
Tickets are now on general sale at the following prices:
Adults £19, Senior Citizens & 16-21 years £12, Under-16s £6.
Ambulant disabled supporters pay the relevant price, but their carer is admitted free of charge. Please note that all the wheelchair disabled spaces have now been sold.
Should they remain on sale that long, tickets will be taken off sale at 3pm on Friday, 25th September.

September 18, 2009

Voting results

A total of nine players received nominations for the "Man of the Match" for their performance in Tuesday evening's away game at West Bromwich Albion. Young debutant Waide Fairhurst was voted as the clear winner, coming well ahead of second placed Jason Shackell, who seems to be gaining votes on a very regular basis.
The players receiving the most votes were:
1 Waide Fairhurst (42.86%)
2 Jason Shackell (17.86%)
3= James Chambers, John Spicer & Martin Woods (7.14% each)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. The next poll will open following Saturday's home game against Ipswich Town.

September 18, 2009

Danny on the move

Former Doncaster Rovers central defener Danny George has completed a transfer from Lincoln United to Spalding United. Both clubs play in the UniBond League Division One (South). Danny played for Doncaster Rovers between 1997 and 1999 - he was one of only two players to survive from the infamous relegation season of 1997/98 to play first team football for the club in the Conference. In case anyone wonders, the other player to play in both the 1997/98 and 1998/99 seasons was Lee Warren.

September 18, 2009

Tomorrow's match officials

The match officials for tomorrow's home game against Ipswich Town have been confirmed as:
Referee: N.S. Miller
Assistant referees: W.E. Grunill & D.I. Storrie
Fourth official: S.A.J. Duncan

September 18, 2009

McCormack has injury setback

Ex-Rovers loan striker Ross McCormack has suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury, which means that he is likely to be out of action for two weeks longer than anticipated. McCormack had hoped to return to action this week, but a scan has revealed that his recovery is not likely to be complete until the middle of October.
Cardiff boss Dave Jones said: "Ross has had a similar problem before and last time he came back too quickly. That will not be happening this time. The doctors say the tear has not healed properly and that has set his progress back.”

September 17, 2009

O'Driscoll - Rovers were stronger last season

Sean O'Driscoll has spoken of his difficulty in replacing Matt Mills and Richie Wellens for this season, confirming that the limited resources that Rovers are working with mean it is difficult to line up replacements.
He said: "We're not as strong as last year after losing two players, so we're in a bit of a difficult position because the job of trying to improve the team takes a lot more resources than what we've got. We've got to do it in a different way. We're trying to hit the same players with different problems and different challenges."
He continued: "We're in a different phase. Ideally, if we had kept what we had got and added one or two, then I think we would have moved on a little bit, but losing two players is inevitable for a club of our size. We're probably a little bit behind where we want to be, but that's no fault of anybody's, that's the industry we're in."
However, he has been encouraged by the way that the team have played, with the battles of last season giving good experience to the squad.
Of that, he said: "The way we have played this season we have deserved to win most of our games. "Even though we lost at Middlesbrough we had the majority of the play. This was probably the worst we've played yet we've come away with a point so that shows we are a lot stronger than last season mentally."

September 17, 2009

Brabin on short-list

Former Rovers skipper Gary Brabin is on the short list fot the managerial vacancy at Lincoln City, it has been confirmed. The Imps want a inspring young manager with coaching experience, with vice-chairman Bob Dorrian already saying that Brabin has the necessary qualities they are looking for. The short list now stands at eight, with current caretaker manager Simon Clark and former Nottingham Forest caretaker boss John Pemberton two of Brabin's rivals for the post.

September 17, 2009

Green out for a month

Ex-Rovers midfielder Paul Green is facing at least a month out of action after a reoccurrence of his foot injury means that he will have to undergo an operation to solve the problem.
Green has been troubled by foot and ankle problems since last season and missed Tuesday's home game for Derby against Barnsley with the injury.
Derby have confirmed that he will have surgery on the injury this weekend. Derby boss Nigel Clough said: "There is obviously something that's not right with his foot. We were advised by the specialist that if Greenie rested his foot during the international break it would be fine. He played against Sheffield United on Saturday and then a few days later he started feeling it again. So something is not right and we will have to investigate it further."

September 17, 2009

Matt on the move

Ex-Rovers winger Matt Caudwell has been transferred from Matlock Town to UniBond Premier League club Retford Town. He left Rovers in 2002 after a four year stay, during which time he started 56 league games, to join Worksop Town, and has played all of his football in the area since then.

September 16, 2009

West Brom 3 Rovers 1

Rovers had to make changes to the side that played at the weekend with injuries causing the withdrawal of James Coppinger and James Hayter, with Waide Fairhurst and Billy Sharp making their debuts for Rovers. The injury situation appeared to get worse in the 32nd minute when Gareth Roberts went off with what appeared to be an ankle injury, although he was replaced by James O'Connor, in for his first match since a lengthy injury absence.
Despite the changes, Rovers got off to a great start, with Fairhurst scoring after just seven minutes after a one-two with Billy Sharp, with the final shot coming from six yards. However, set pieces were to become Rovers' achilles heel - Jonas Olsson headed past Neil Sullivan shortly afterwards to put West Brom level. Olsson scored his second of the night in the 66th minute as he headed home from a free kick, then Chris Woods scored a stunning goal, a 25-yard drive which flew past Sullivan - his first for Albion - five minutes from time to give them perhaps a flattering winning margin.
Unusually for Rovers, they conceded possession more easily than is usually the case, although the defence played well to compensate - but even at this early stage of the season, it looks like the three clubs relegated from the Premiership in the summer will be the hot favourites to go straight back up.

September 16, 2009

Around the goals

We begin our short review in the Blue Square Premier, where Gregg Blundell's 20th minute penalty for Chester City last night set them on their way to a first win of the season, with a 2-1 victory over Gateshead.
For many clubs, the FA Cup dream is already over - Saturday saw the First Qualifying Round take place, with replays being played during this week. Two former Rovers players were on the scoresheet on Saturday- and two that we've not heard of for a while. Neil Campbell scored for Horden CW as they drew with Durham City 2-2 - the replay will take place this evening.
Finally, still in the FA Cup, former Rovers striker Steve Burton scored one of Guiseley's two scorers in their 2-0 win over Whitley Bay. Burton joined Guiseley from Harrogate Town in the summer, having also played for Scarborough, Leigh RMI, Crawley Town and Tamworth.

September 16, 2009

Free Press offer Quid for a Kid

Children can get in to Saturday's home game against Ipswich Town for just £1, with the Free Press printing vouchers which will allow up to three under-16's tickets for £1 each for each adult ticket bought. The offer is also open to all existing season ticket holders, but all children must be accompanied by an adult. A voucher was printed in last Thursday's edition of the Free Press - another will be printed in this week's edition.
The voucher should be presented at the Keepmoat Stadium ticket office to qualify for the offer.