Thursday 13th August 2015 (7:45pm), Capital One Cup R1, Keepmoat Stadium.
Doncaster Rovers’ rise to nationwide prominence arguably came a decade ago when they claimed the scalps of Manchester City and Aston Villa en route to a League Cup quarter final tie in a period that culminated in a League One play-off final win over Leeds United at Wembley some three years later.Back in the third tier now, Rovers are in the process of rebuilding and welcome the Whites back to South Yorkshire for the first round of this seasons competition; one which the visitors won back in 1968.
It is the third time in five seasons that the Whites will have made the short journey to Keepmoat Stadium and they’ve enjoyed their visits to date; having not lost in 64 years.
For Rovers manager Paul Dickov, who comes up against his old Manchester City teammate Uwe Rosler – and one time employers – it is a chance for the League 1 club to showcase their talents to a captive, nationwide audience.
Both sides came away from the opening games of the 15/16 season with respective 1-1 home draws, however the nature of Doncaster’s against Bury was far more complex than United’s over Burnley.
Harry Forrester – whose goal saw Rovers overcome York City at this stage of the League Cup last season – saw his misplaced backpass end up in the Shakers goal, before Dickov intervened and allowed the visitors to equalise.
It will be interesting to see whether the feat would be repeated if a place in the second round was at stake.
LAST TIME:
Sat 29th March 2014:
Leeds – 1 (McCormack, 62)
DRFC – 2 (Cotterill, 23 ; Sharp, 45)
Championship
Elland Road
Attendance – 23476
LUFC - J Butland, S Byram, D Pugh, J Pearce, T Lees, A Mowatt, R Austin (M Tonge, 45), L Murphy (A White, 45), C Stewart, R McCormack, M Smith
DRFC - S Johnstone, P Quinn, L Neill, A Meite, J Husband, J Coppinger, D Cotterill, R Wellens (D Furman, 71), P Keegan, B Sharp (T Robinson, 84), C Brown
HEAD TO HEAD: League Cup results (in Doncaster): Rovers – 0 LUFC – 2 Draws – 0
WHAT ARE THE ODDS? DRFC 7/4; Draw 12/5; Leeds 6/4.
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