by The Rovers Review

After a thrilling 4-1 victory at home to Yeovil Town on Saturday, Darren Fergusons' men look to make it four on the bounce with a win in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday night at Mansfield.

Mansfield away is the first trip in the competition for Doncaster, as they embark on the first round of the Checkatrade trophy round 1, but all does not lie on this game, as we still have to play Port Vale and Derby Countys' academy. For this match I'd like to see some of the younger players have a run out, such as Pugh, Mandeville and Beestin, but one thing that would mean, is that Ferguson would have to dismantle a squad with a winning mentality.

One problem for sure is our defence; we now have 7 injured defenders, with Mitchell Lund the latest casualty vs Yeovil last Saturday, but now we also lose Joe Wright, who has been called up to Wales U21 squad and will miss Mansfield and Crewes' game. So that only leaves us with Evina and Butler as recognised defenders, but this could create an opportunity for youngsters Reece Fielding and Danny Amos.

I can also see goalkeeper Ross Etheridge having a chance to redeem himself during the cup, after being dropped for Marko Marosi very early on this season.

One thing is for certain and that is Ferguson will want to keep Williams in the squad, after the striker netted three goals in his last match; he'll want Williams to hopefully continuing to score to keep up the flow. No players are expected to return from injury for this match, as Paul Keegan has been ruled out for an extra month, and Baudry and McSheffrey are about 3 or 4 weeks away too.

Last time Rovers played Mansfield was ten years ago, in the FA cup. We drew 1-1 with them at their ground, but in the replay we beat them 2-0 at Belle Vue.  Mark McCammon, Paul Heffernan and Brian Stock all scoring during those two matches. Overall, Rovers have won 19 of their 65 previous meetings since 1932, but with it being 10 years since we last faced them, will we manage to make it 20?

Predicted line-up v Mansfield:
Etheridge; Fielding, Butler, Amos; Blair,  Middleton, Beestin, Calder, Evina; Pugh and Williams.