Valley Parade, Saturday 1st November 2014 (3pm), SkyBet League One.
Doncaster Rovers head to Valley Parade for their first Yorkshire derby of the season, looking to arrest a mini-slide to their season.Rovers have not faced the Bantams in the league since a 1-0 win on Boxing Day in 2006 – courtesy of Paul Heffernan’s solitary strike.
For Rovers boss Paul Dickov, he will be hoping he has a birthday to remember as the soon-to-be 42 year old could see his troops elevated to 14th with the right set of results.
Fortunes haven’t been favourable to either side of late and Phil Parkinson’s City side have been struggling for form recently and are without a win in their last four league matches.
After five seasons in League Two, Bradford returned to League One after winning the 2012/13 Play Off Final. That campaign proved to be one of the best in the club’s history after reaching the Capital One Cup Final, with triumphs over the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa along the way.
Upon returning to the division in the last campaign, Kyle Bennett spent time on loan with the Bantams, making 18 appearances last season, scoring one goal. Phil Parkinson’s side made a solid return to the third tier with a top half finish.
The last time Rovers faced City was in a Football League Trophy tie where Sean O’Driscoll’s men romped to a 5-1 win against almost unrecognisable opponents; goals from Mark McCammon (x2), Lewis Guy, Martin Woods and a Thomas Harban own goal inflicted a heavy defeat on the depleted west Yorkshire side.
Last time out (Tues 4th September 07):
DRFC 5 (McCammon (16, 41), Guy (24), Woods (64), Harban (og 78))
Bradford 1 (Nix (70))
Football League Trophy
Keepmoat Stadium
Attendance – 4710
DRFC – N Sullivan (B Smith, 46), J O'Connor (B Dyer, 57), S Roberts, M Mills, G Roberts, P Green, S McDaid, M Woods, L Guy, M McCammon (S Hird, 57), P Heffernan
BCAFC – B Saynor, T Harban, S Ainge (N Joynes, 46), M Clarke, P Heckingbottom, J Colbeck, C Bentham, S Phelan (P Thorne, 46), S Taylforth, K Nix, B Conlon (L O'Brien, 46)
Head to head league results (in Bradford):
Rovers – 8
City – 19
Draws – 6
Team News:
Rovers – Sam Johnstone will make his return to the Rovers starting eleven, following his loan capture from Manchester United. Dean Furman and Kyle Bennett could both feature against the club with which they both had loan spells.
City - Bradford City will be without defender Rory McArdle as he serves a one-match ban.
Fellow centre-half Andrew Davies (calf) could return but midfielder Gary Liddle (hamstring) is set to miss out.
Fancy a flutter? Rovers 2/1, Draw 9/4, Bradford 11/8
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