Still only five points above the drop zone. Can we win on the road to ease those 'over the shoulder' worries?

Doncaster Rovers v Derby County
Coca Cola Championship
3:00pm 13th March 2010
Keepmoat Stadium - Doncaster

Rovers:

Current League Position: 11/24

Leading scorer: Billy Sharp (14)

Manager: Sean O’Driscoll

Kit home: Red and white hooped shirts, black shorts, red socks

Kit away: Black shirts, red shorts, red socks

Last game: Preston 1 - 1 Doncaster

Quotes from the manager:

Sean O'Driscoll Speaking to the BBc after the Preston game where Billy Sharp missed a 2nd half penalty:

"We've had two away games in four days and we've got four points. I'd have taken that at the start of the week."

"Billy Sharp will be disappointed with missing the penalty."

"Goalscorers want to score goals. He'll be a sulky boy on the way home but he'll bounce back, I'm sure."

Current Rovers Squad:

No. Position. Player

1 Keeper Neil Sullivan
2 Defender James O'Connor
3 Defender Gareth Roberts
4 Midfield Jordon Mutch (on loan from Birmingham City)
5 Striker Billy Sharp (on loan from Sheffield United)
6 Defender James Chambers
7 Striker Lewis Guy
8 Midfield Brian Stock (captain)
9 Striker Steve Brooker
10 Midfield John Spicer
11 Defender Adam Lockwood
12 Striker James Hayter
13 Keeper Ben Smith
15 Midfield Mark Wilson
16 Midfield John Oster
17 Midfield Martin Woods
18 Defender Sean McDaid
20 Defender Jason Shackell (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
21 Defender Sam Hird
22 Midfield Dean Shiels
23 Defender Byron Webster
24 Defender Mustapha Dumbuya
26 Midfield James Coppinger
29 Striker Waide Fairhurst
30 Defender Shelton Martis
31 Midfield Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (on loan from Arsenal)
32 Defender Elliott Ward (on loan from Coventry City)
33 Keeper Gary Woods

 
The Rams:

Quotes from the manager:

Nigel Clough speaking after the Reading game:

"I've never lost two keepers in a night before. Stephen has been playing with a back injury and it seized up so he had to come off."

"Saul was doing well until he got sent off. I had no complaints with the penalty decision but it would have been a hell of a finish to score from where the ball had rolled to."

"I thought we'd eradicated that rule that it was a straight red card. But Robbie wasn't getting a kick in midfield so we thought he was the best candidate."

Current Rams Squad:

No. Position. Player

1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
2 Defender Paul Connolly
3 Defender James McEveley
4 Midfield Paul Green
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfield Lee Croft
8 Midfield Robbie Savage (captain)
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Midfield Kris Commons
11 Midfield Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
16 Midfield Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfield Ben Pringle
19 Midfield Michael Tonge (on loan from Stoke City F.C.)
20 Striker Steve Davies
21 Defender Dean Moxey
22 Midfield Arnaud Mendy
23 Defender Mark O'Brien
24 Defender Nicky Hunt (on loan from Bolton Wanderers F.C.)
25 Midfield David Martin (on loan from Millwall F.C)
26 Midfield Lee Hendrie
27 Defender Russell Anderson
28 Defender Mitchell Hanson
31 Defender Javan Vidal (on loan from Manchester City F.C.)
32 Striker Gilles Sunu (on loan from Arsenal F.C.)
33 Defender Mark Dudley
35 Striker Callum Ball
-- Keeper David Martin (on loan from Liverpool F.C)

What the Bookies think:

Home Win: 19/20
Draw: 11/5
Away win: 12/5
 
First Scorer: - Billy Sharp 9/2, Chris Porter, Rob Hulse 7/1,

Information for travelling fans:

Driving: It’s just over 50 miles to Doncaster. traffic on the M1 is likely to be hell with roadwork’s around from J25. The advice on 606 is to avoid J25 to J28 and head north past Alfreton and join the M1 at J28.

Once on the M1, look for the Junction with the M18 and join the motorway. Once on the M18, leave at Junction 3.

Footballgroundguide.com recommend that you pass a retail park on then left and then at the next island turn left into White Rose Way.

The Lakeside Shopping Centre is now on your right (the stadium is located directly behind the shopping centre). At the next island turn right onto the industrial estate and after passing the Tesco distribution centre on your right, turn right at the bottom of the road and the stadium is further down on your left.

Parking: There is space for 1000 cars at the stadium so it’s pretty obvious that it will be first come, first served. There’s some very limited street parking and some of the firms on the industrial estates allow parking for £3-£4 but apparently don’t expect to be back in Derby for closing time.

Drinking: The Fitzwilliam Arms was very good last season. The landlord sent the following to Popside.com

"We are the second closest pub to the ground from town and only 5 mins walk from the train/bus interchange station, also only 15min walk to the Keepmoat.

We serve a great pint, have some lovely footie food (Home made steak pie, chips peas and gravy is the favourite) and large screen TV for live football.

I have a large secure car park, FREE, and can accommodate up to 4 coaches and mini-buses if given advance notice.

So far we have had a good response from travelling fans with some great reviews on their sites.

Coaches will need to send company name and reg no. so that I can inform local police, who will allow coaches to park here with prior notice (Saves £25 on stadium price)”.

Mick’s Prediction:

Usual drubbing at Reading. To be honest, the score wouldn't have surprised me if we'd kept all eleven players on the pitch. Reading just seems to be one of those places we can't win.

What does concern me is that Nigel Clough has been playing Bywater while he's been injured. Have we learned nothing this season? Injuries need rest and recuperation not games.

Hopefully Bywater will recover quickly and we do seem to have moved fast on the emergency goalkeeper front but it is worrying given the number of injuries we've had this season.

Doncaster are a good footballing side and we've not had much luck against them. Billy Sharp always seems to do well against us so we need to be at our best at the back.

Jay McEveley sounds as if he struggled against Reading so we might see Moxey back. There's no doubt left back is one of our problem positions - I wonder if playing Moxey AND McEveley with either free to get forward would work?

It would mean dropping Pearson or, perhaps moving him inside and dropping Savage?

I know that's probably controversial - but as Clough says himself, he barely had a kick in midfield. That was true against the atrocious Watford as well though to be fair to Robbie, it was mostly sailing over his head.

Whatever Clough does, we need a few more points to be safe for this season. Maybe sticking with what works at Pride Park will see us safe though a win on the road would make it a bit more comfortable for the last few games.

Mick's Team:

Martin, Hunt, Barker, Buxton, McEveley, Green, Savage, Tonge, Pearson, Porter, Hulse.

Subs: Pringle, Anderson, Moxey, Sunu, Martin, Leacock, Davies

Mick's Prediction:

Doncaster 1 - 1 Derby

Photo: Action Images

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