Vicarage Road, 26th August 2014 (7:45pm), Capital One Cup R2.
Doncaster Rovers travel to Vicarage Road this evening looking to progress to the third round of the Capital One Cup for the second time in three seasons.Standing in their way are a rampant Watford side, who currently lie second in the Sky Bet Championship having brushed aside Leeds United 4-1 at the weekend.
Paul Dickov and Beppe Sannino’s paths have crossed once before in March 2014 when Rovers defeated the Hornets 2-1 at the Keepmoat Stadium in the Championship.
Mathias Ranegie’s 19th minute red card sparked Rovers in to life and, just five minutes later, Chris Brown nodded the hosts in front following an expert cross from David Cotterill.
Though Rovers loanee ‘keeper Sam Johnstone was lucky to escape punishment for hauling down Watford striker Troy Deeney, Sannino’s men equalised on 68 minutes when Ikechi Anya rounded off a passing move to poke home.
Rovers were not to be denied their first home win over the Hornets for four years though and Billy Sharp applied the vital touch in injury time to nick the game 2-1 and atone for the reverse scoreline earlier in the season when Lewis McGugan’s double saw Gianfranco Zola’s side run out 2-1 winners, despite Chris Brown’s goal.
Rovers’ record in Hertfordshire is not all that enviable, with their only win (in ten attempts) coming more than 54 years ago. A double from Scottish striker Jim Fernie saw the visitors come away with all three points in a Division 4 clash in front of over 9,000.
Team News:
Rovers – Rob Jones (neck) could return. Harry Forrester (suspension) and Curtis Main (knee) are both definitely out though.
Watford - Matej Vydra (dead leg) and Mathias Ranegie (groin) are pushing for returns to the starting XI but Craig Cathcart (knee) and Joel Ekstrand (suspension) will miss out.
Last Meeting:
Doncaster Rovers 2 (Brown 24; Sharp 90)
Watford 1 (Anya 68)
Sky Bet Championship
Keepmoat Stadium
6581
DRFC – S Johnstone, P Quinn, A Meite (L McCullough, 45), J Husband, J Coppinger, D Cotterill, R Wellens, P Keegan, M Duffy, B Sharp, C Brown
WFC - J Bond, L Doyley, G Angella, M Cassetti , I Anya, D Tozser, D Pudil, A Merkel (F Forestieri, 59), C Battocchio (M Faraoni , 88), T Deeney, M Ranegie (s/o 19)
Head to head (at Watford)
Hornets – 6
Rovers – 1
Draws – 3
Sky Bet Odds: Watford 1/2; Draw 100/30; Rovers 5/1.
Join Tom Biltcliffe and Danny Czepiec on Rovers Player from 7:30pm.