Saturday 2nd April 2016 (3pm), Sky Bet League One, Spotland.
Rovers cross the Pennines to Spotland on Saturday knowing time is ebbing away in their bid to save themselves from dropping out of League One.Standing in their way will be a play-off chasing Rochdale outfit who have been given hope of a top six finish with their recent run of 6 wins in 8 games.
For Doncaster boss Darren Ferguson, who said that his side would require “at least 50 points” to stay in the division, he must hope his troops can provide a memorable turnaround in form and deliver 13 points from a possible 21.
The Easter weekend was “the worst possible” according to the Scot who saw a sixth and seventh consecutive defeat inflicted on his side after 4-1 and 1-0 losses to Colchester and Blackpool respectively.
Dale are no pushovers though, as they proved when talismanic striker Ian Henderson struck twice in the last five minutes of November’s reverse fixture.
However, the 13 goal striker will not be of concern to Rovers as he serves the first of his four game ban after he picked up his second consecutive red card in Monday’s 1-0 defeat to promotion aspirants Wigan.
Rochdale are the most frequent opponents of Rovers’ history and Saturday’s meeting will be the 103rd in all competitions since 1923.
The Yorkshire side hold the upper hand in this respect, running out victors on 50 occasions to the Lancastrians 34 and did win on their last outing at Spotland when goals from Kyle Bennett, Theo Robinson and Curtis Main overturned Matty Done’s opener.
TEAM NEWS: Luke McCullough will be fit for selection after returning from international duty, while hopes are high that Nathan Tyson and Gary McSheffrey will be fit.
Attendance – 6125
Keepmoat Stadium
Football League One
RFC 2 (Henderson, 84, 90)
DRFC 0
Last time out (Sat 21st November 2015):
DRFC - T Stuckmann, C Alcock, A Butler, A Sinclair, H Middleton, C Evina, C Grant, F Mattioni (C Stewart, 87), J Coppinger, N Tyson (K Anderson, 57 (D N'Guessan, 74)), A Williams
RFC - J Castro Pereira, J McNulty, O Lancashire, T Kennedy, A Cannon, R Bennett, D McDermott, I Henderson, C Camps (M Rose, 87), P Vincenti (C Andrew, 62), J Bunney (N Mendez-Laing, 81)
Head to head league results (in Rochdale):
RFC – 25
DRFC – 15
Draws – 8
WHAT ARE THE ODDS? RFC 17/20, Draw 13/10, DRFC 3/1.
Listen to ROVERS PLAYER for live coverage from 14:45 with Tom Biltcliffe and Danny Czepiec.
Follow ROVERS WALL for all the action as it happens from 14:00.