Chesterfield v Doncaster Rovers Match Preview
by Adam Stubbings
It finally happened. Doncaster Rovers won a game of football, but the job is far from done. We still face an almighty task to survive relegation from League One at the end of the season, and anything less than a second successive victory against Chesterfield in midweek will surely signal certain defeat in the battle against the drop.
Victory on Saturday against league leaders Wigan was easily the most impressive result of a miserable season for Rovers, who have toiled for months without finding a way to take three points from a game. Here, the best team in the league were despatched in a clinical second half in which we demonstrated steely determination, quality in the final third and stern resistance in defence.
All of these qualities have clearly been there in these players all year, they just haven't shown it. With this win under their belts they must now believe in their ability to pull off a miracle escape and return from the brink of oblivion to stay in the division, starting with Tuesday's trip to the Proact Stadium.
The Spireites have pulled away from the bottom four of late but are not quite out of the woods yet. A win against us here would take them to the magical 52 point barrier that teams aspire to for safety, so they will be eager to get back to winning ways after seeing their momentum halted by a meek 3-0 home loss to fellow local rivals Sheffield United at the weekend.
Prior to that defeat they won back-to-back games but the 4-2 win over Port Vale is their only home maximum in five matches, which also included a heavy loss to Walsall and failure to beat two other struggling sides in Fleetwood and Blackpool. Danny Wilson's side do have that cushion to the bottom four now though so should feel slightly more relaxed about their chances of staying up now.
But the signs are good looking back on previous meetings between the clubs. Rovers are unbeaten in eight matches stretching back to a 1-0 loss at Belle Vue in February 2005 in our first season together in a decade, and in the last clash between the sides Rovers ran out comfortable 3-0 winners on a cold Tuesday night last November that proved one of the death blows for former Rovers boss Dean Saunders' time in charge of Chesterfield.
Consistency could be the key as a settled midfield has seen improved performances in recent matches from Rovers, with the only likely change seeing Cedric Evina start in place of the hapless Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, who was hooked at half time after several errors in the build-up to Wigan's goal.
If we can take heart and confidence from the second half showing last time out, we surely stand a good chance of extending our survival hopes into next weekend with another win here. All we can do is believe.
