Colchester United v Doncaster Rovers Match Preview


by The Rovers Review

The title could be in touching distance for Rovers this Easter weekend as they travel to Essex to take on Colchester United.
 
One main injury concern for Darren Ferguson going into the match and that is James Coppinger, who is still suffering from ankle problems. Gary McSheffrey could continue playing in Coppinger’s role while he’s out, as Ferguson has hinted at rotating the two midfielders around due to their similarities in style of play and age.
 
Ferguson has also said that he is going to be shuffling the squad around due to some players still carrying knocks at this late stage of the season. One of those possible players could be Niall Mason, who has been carrying a knock for a while, but has still been completing 90 minutes in the past few games. Aaron Taylor-Sinclair could be the one to rotate with him after the Scotsman returned to the starting 18 for the first time since the Burton game last May against Mansfield last weekend.
 
While on the subject of Niall Mason, Darren Ferguson has said that he’s looking to make this loan deal permanent at the end of the season, because Mason is out of contract with his parent club, Aston Villa. This is also a similar situation for Everton loanee Conor Grant, who said he’d be willing to join should Rovers seal promotion back to league one, which was confirmed last weekend. Ferguson has said he’s going to be sitting down with Grant's agent, after having an offer accepted by Everton.
 
Good news for Rovers fans in regard to in-form striker John Marquis, who has confirmed pre-match that he is happy and settled in Doncaster and willing to discuss a new deal with the club, with his current deal expiring in the summer of 2018. There has been lots of transfer speculation surrounding the striker, due to him scoring 26 goals so far in the league.
 
This time last year Rovers faced Colchester away in league one, where Colchester 'burried' Rovers 4-1, leading to Ferguson reaching his boiling-point post-match. So, will there be an element of karma a year later, with Rovers already promoted back to league one?
 
Head-to-heads
Colchester do have the best home record in the league (excluding Rovers), which has seen them pick up 41 points at home this season from 20 games, so the Colchester Community Stadium, could be considered a bit of a fortress. Forty of Colchester’s sixty goals this season have come at home too, but Rovers just edge over Colchester with that stat, because 42 of Rovers 81 goals have come on the road, so there could also be a lot of goals in this game too.

Players to watch
The biggest goal-scoring threat from the ‘U’s’ is Chris Porter, who has managed to score 15 league goals this season, and he’ll be looking to break the 20-goal mark with 5 games left to go.
 
Defender, Brennan Dickenson is their main provider for assists, with him racking up 7 league assists – closely behind him is their top goal scorer, Chris Porter with 6 assists.

Previous encounters
In the reverse fixture, during October 2016, it finished in a 1-0 win for Rovers, with Tommy Rowe scoring the only goal during that game.
 
As mentioned previously, last time we visited the Colchester Community Stadium it finished 4-1 to Colchester, with Gary McSheffrey getting the only consolidating goal for Rovers on that day.
 
Overall, Rovers have won 22, drawn 7 and lost 18 since 1985. Can they make it 23 wins, to take a step closer to the title?

Predicted lineup v Colchester United
Lawlor; Alcock, Butler, Baudry, Taylor-Sinclair; McCullough, Blair, Rowe, McSheffrey; Williams and Marquis.


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