Gaffer will play returning players when fit and ready...
Paul Dickov hinted at the possibility of featuring experienced trio Paul Keegan, Richard Chaplow and Nathan Tyson when Rovers host Sunderland in their penultimate pre season fixture on Wednesday evening (7:45pm) at Keepmoat Stadium.The experienced triumvirate have been ruled out over the past couple of weeks due to slight knocks however there’s no rush on the manager’s part to see them in action.
“All three will have a chance for Wednesday. If not then, then next Saturday against Wolves but we want to be careful with them,” said the Scot.
“There’s no point in pre-season taking chances. What matters most is that they’re fit enough for the start of the season.
“The three who are waiting will have to work ever so hard to get back in. We’ll have to put the reins on a little bit though, like Richie (Wellens) who wanted to get a full ninety minutes but we’ve got to manage them right.”
Other areas of Dickov’s squad are flying though and he has been impressed by the returning young professionals who have been given a chance in pre-season and also made impacts for the development squad.
“The young kids have really impressed me with their attitude and their desire to impress me and their teammates,” Dickov stated.
“I want to create competition and at times we probably had a team that picked itself too much and that lead to complacency and we wont have that this year.
“The more minutes they get on the pitch, then the better they’ll be. The pleasing thing for me is that we’ve still got Keegan, Tyson and Chaplow to come in to the fold as well which creates competition for places.
"The players in the team are going to want to stay there and the players that aren’t in the team are going to be pushing them for a starting place, as well.”