Tuesday 8th November 2016 (7:45pm), Checkatrade Trophy, Keepmoat Stadium.
Rovers can book their place in the knockout phase of this year’s Checkatrade Trophy if they defeat League One play-off chasers Port Vale at Keepmoat Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The undefeated hosts will go through should Mansfield Town lose in the night’s other Group E fixture at the iPro Stadium, while the visitors can join Rovers if they and Derby both win.
Darren Ferguson’s men will look to atone for Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup round 1 defeat to Oldham Athletic with victory in a competition they’ve really rather relished.
Vale have the Indian sign over Rovers of late with four straight victories to their name and eleven goals.
Their latest win came as they completed a double over the south Yorkshire side in January with a brace courtesy of AJ Leitch-Smith. Defender Cedric Evina’s looped effort was no more than a consolation.
The last time Rovers overcame the Staffordshire side was back in March 2008 when early goals from strike partners Paul Heffernan and Mark McCammon earned Sean O’Driscoll’s men their fourteenth success over the Valiants.
Were Rovers to turn league standings and recent history on their head then they would top the group and earn themselves a home tie in the next round of a trophy they won back in 2007.
TEAM NEWS: Niall Mason, Paul Keegan and Mathieu Baudry all played 90 minutes in the Checkatrade Trophy penalty shootout win over Derby County. Frazer Richardson and Craig Alcock should feature while the returning Jordan Houghton and Riccardo Calder are back in contention.
LAST TIME:
Tues 26th Jan 2016:
DRFC 1 (Evina, 88)
PVFC 2 (Leitch-Smith, 6; 65)
League One
Keepmoat Stadium
Attendance – 4799
DRFC - T Stuckmann (M Marosi, 48), A Sinclair, M Lund (E Lecygne, 63), L McCullough, C Alcock, C Evina, R Chaplow, C Grant, J Coppinger (L Mandeville, 74), L Gooch, A Williams
PVFC - J Alnwick, R McGivern, A Yates, C Dickinson, R Duffy, M O'Connor (R Inniss, 89), A Grant, L Dodds, M Kennedy, J Hooper (T Robinson, 86), A Leitch-Smith
HEAD TO HEAD: Results (in Doncaster): Rovers – 14, Draws – 5, PVFC – 5.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS? DRFC 13/10, Draw 9/4, PVFC 19/10
ROVERS PLAYER: Listen to live coverage from 19:30 with Tom Biltcliffe and Robbie Andrews.
ROVERS WALL: Follow all the action as it happens from 19:00