Doncaster Rovers

Rovers travel to Crewe Alexandra this weekend looking to get back to winning ways in Sky Bet League Two.

Danny Schofield will take charge of his first Rovers game having been appointed as head coach on Thursday.

Here we provide all the details on our latest opponents.

Manager

Alex Morris was appointed as Crewe manager in April, replacing David Artell in the role.

Having been forced to retire from playing early, Morris turned his attention to coaching and was in charge of the Crewe U18s side that reached the FA Youth Cup quarter-final in 2015, beating Arsenal, Fulham and Bolton before being beaten by eventual finalists Manchester City.

The 39-year-old continued to progress and following a stint as reserve manager, was promoted to assistant manager with the team struggling in Sky Bet League One. After Artell left following defeat to Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium, Morris was handed the role initially on a temporary basis, before signing a permanent deal with the club.

Form

The Railwaymen have won one of their past six outings stretching back to a 1-1 draw at Hartlepool United on September 13. They then beat Crawley Town at the Mornflake Stadium but ended September with a home defeat to Mansfield Town.

They began October with draws against Carlisle United and Gillingham respectively, before being beaten 3-0 at Tranmere Rovers in their last outing.

Key men

Central defender Luke Offord is one of multiple players over the years to come through the Crewe Academy and become a first team regular.

Having made his debut in January 2020 against Leyton Orient, he made another eight appearances that season before a breakthrough campaign followed with another 30 games under his belt. His first goal for the club came against Wigan  Athletic in Sky Bet League One.

The 22-year-old has now made more than 100 appearances for the club, including every league game this season. 

Powerful forward Dan Agyei joined Crewe in January from Oxford United for an undisclosed fee. Born in London, Agyei started joined Burnley from AFC Wimbledon as a teenager, and would go onto make three substitute appearances for the Clarets’ first team.

He spent time out on loan at Coventry City, Walsall and Blackpool, before signing for Oxford in the summer of 2019. In two-and-a-half years at the Kassam Stadium, the 25-year-old played almost 100 times, with the majority of those appearances coming off the bench.

Agyei has started this season well for Crewe, finding the back of the net on four occasions, with two of those coming on home soil.

Striker Courtney Baker-Richardson signed for Crewe in the summer from fellow Sky Bet League Two side Newport County.

Last season was a breakthrough campaign for the 26-year-old, who scored eight goals for the Exiles in 25 league starts.

The former Swansea and Barnet man has settled in well to his new surroundings, and with seven goals this season is already close to matching last year’s tally. Six of those strikes have come at the Mornflake Stadium.

Last league meeting

Rovers beat Crewe 2-0 when the two sides last met at the Eco-Power Stadium back in April. Tommy Rowe opened the scoring 10 minutes in, before Josh Martin sealed all three points just after the break.