Saturday 31st January 2015 (3pm), Proact Stadium, Sky Bet League One.
Doncaster Rovers are aiming for their first double of the season on Saturday when they take on nearby Chesterfield.In what is the South Yorkshire sides first ever visit to the Spireites’ new ground, The Proact Stadium, Paul Dickov will be able to call upon new loan signing Uche Ikpeazu in a bid to take the maximum six points on offer from Paul Cook’s side, having defeated them 3-2 at Keepmoat Stadium in September.
Rovers were not short on firepower that day as goals from Nathan Tyson, Kyle Bennett and Jamie McCombe proved enough to deny the visiting efforts of Sam Clucas and Eoin Doyle.
It is close to eight years since Doncaster visited North Derbyshire – again in the third tier – and the paths of both clubs have veered wildly since...until this season!
While Rovers enjoyed the high life in the Championship, the Spireites had to endure the ignominy of League Two football on a couple of occasions.
They have risen promisingly since, however, to coincide with their gleaming £13M facility, less than two miles down the road from the antiquated Saltergate.
The final meeting between the pair at Saltergate was a 1-1 draw in front of less than 4,000 packing the terraces. Brian Stock’s opener midway through the first half was cancelled out by Paul Hall’s penalty on the stroke of half time.
Last time out (We 21 Mar 2007):
Chesterfield 1 (Hall, 41 (pen))
DRFC 1 (Stock, 25)
League One
Saltergate
Attendance – 3868
Spireites - B Roche, J Lowry (K Critchell, 83), A Downes, R Hazell, P Picken, P Hall, M Allott, D Niven, A Bailey (J Jackson, 66), P Shaw (W Allison, 61), C Larkin
DRFC – N Sullivan, J O'Connor, H Worley, A Lockwood, G Roberts, J Coppinger, B Stock, S Thornton, M Wilson (L Guy, 80), J Forte, D Cadamarteri
Head to head league results (in Chesterfield):
Spireites – 18
Rovers – 7
Draws – 15
Team News:
Rovers – Watford striker Uche Ikpeazu will go straight in to the reckoning after signing on loan in the week. Though Rob Jones and Ben Askins have returned to training they are some way off fitness. Dean Furman won’t make it in time following South Africa’s Africa Cup of Nations exit, while Marc De Val has left the club.
Chesterfield – Midfielder Romuald Boco has left the club for Indian football, while Byron Harrison has signed an 18 month deal from Cheltenham. Eoin Doyle scored his 24th goal of the season in the midweek win over Crawley (3-0) at the Proact Stadium.
Fancy a flutter? Rovers 12/5, Draw 12/5, Chesterfield 11/10.
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