Doncaster Rovers

Rovers return to the Eco-Power Stadium for a Yorkshire derby with Harrogate Town in Sky Bet League Two on Tuesday night.

Danny Schofield’s side earned a point in their last league outing away at Stockport County.

Harrogate currently sit 21st in the table, and six points above the relegation places.

Here we provide all the details on our latest opponents.

Manager 

As a player, Doncaster-born Simon Weaver made his professional debut for Rovers in 1997 while on loan from Sheffield Wednesday.

He finished his playing days with Harrogate and after being named as player-manager in 2009, he helped transform the club alongside his father Irving, who owns the club. They achieved promotion to the EFL for the first time in their history in 2020, and their first game in the fourth tier was a 4-0 win at Southend United. 

In their two seasons in the division to date, Weaver has guided Harrogate to back-to-back 17th-placed finishes.

Form

Harrogate are winless in their previous six league outings but have lost just once in that period, stretching back to a 1-1 draw at Salford City on February 14.

They followed that up with two more draws, after being held by Crewe on home soil, they earned a point on the road at Grimsby Town three days later. They were beaten by Swindon Town, before coming close to beating promotion chasing Northampton, only for the Cobblers equalise late on in West Yorkshire.

Their last game saw them pick up another point at home against Gillingham.

Key men

Experienced midfielder Josh Falkingham has now made more than 200 appearances for Harrogate since joining the club in the summer of 2017.

After coming through the ranks at Leeds United, he moved north of the border in search of regular first team football in 2010. He initially spent time on loan with St. Johnstone, before making a permanent move to Arbroath shortly after. He racked up more than 220 games, which included a four-year spell at Dunfermline before moving back south.

He has been key in helping Harrogate work their way into the EFL for the first time, and continues to be one of the first names on the teamsheet for Simon Weaver.

Another man with plenty of experience is Jack Muldoon, who signed for Harrogate a year after Falkingham and has since found the back on the net on a regular occurrence. 

After spells with Rochdale and Halifax earlier on in his career, it was with Lincoln in 2015 where Muldoon found his feet with 79 appearances for the Imps. He moved to Fylde in 2017 but spend just one season there, and signed for Harrogate in the summer of 2018.

The 32-year-old is another player who has played a pivotal role in the club’s climb through the divisions, scoring 65 goals in 180 starts in all competitions.

Forward Luke Armstrong joined Harrogate in the summer of 2021 after an impressive loan spell at fellow Sky Bet League Two side Hartlepool United.

Armstrong had a spell with Middlesborough where he was allowed to move out on loan to the likes of Gateshead and Accrington Stanley, before a permanent move to Salford City in the summer of 2019. The 26-year-old found game time harder to come by with the Ammies and made the move back north to Victoria Park in December 2020.

At that stage Pools were still in the National League battling for promotion to the EFL, and Armstrong’s goals helped them to do just that. He struck 15 times in the second half of the campaign, including one in the play-off final against Torquay United, which they won on penalties.

He carried that form into his first season at Harrogate, scoring 14 goals, including one against former club Hartlepool. Armstrong has backed that up with another solid campaign so far, scoring 11 times in 39 appearances.

Last league meeting

Tuesday’s game at the Eco-Power Stadium will be the first time the two teams have gone head-to-head in the EFL.