Doncaster Rovers v Bradford City Match Preview


by The Rovers Review

Darren Ferguson is looking forward to taking on local rivals Bradford City under the flood-lights on Monday evening.

The Rovers manager is fancying his chances against an out-of-form Bradford City, who are without star-striker, Charlie Wyke,

“They went through a hell of a bad run in the league, they had to let club legend Stuart [McCall] go and bring in Simon [Grayson] who’s got fantastic experience and a lot of success in League One, but he has to hit the ground running because he’s only got until the end of the season.
 “I went to the game last night and it was a very close game, Wigan won it in the last minute, but they’ve got a competitive team and blend of experience and youth. Obviously, you would say the main striker in terms of threat, he won’t be playing - Wyke - because he’s suspended.
“A bit of a derby, they’ll bring good support – a game I’m looking forward to and as are the players."

Alfie Beestin has made a shock return to training after recovering from his injury quicker than first anticipated, meanwhile, Craig Alcock and Andy Boyle come into contention for Monday's game.

Defender Mathieu Baudry felt a tight hamstring after the draw at Southend, but Ferguson confirmed the Frenchman is fine and Andy Butler is on course to return to action for Rovers' game after Bradford, Blackpool.

Rovers remain 7 points behind their Yorkshire counterparts as Bradford come into the game with the joint poorest run of form with Fleetwood - who Rovers beat 3-0 the last time at the Keepmoat - after the Bantams have collected 2 points from 8 games.

Despite this stat, Bradford does hold good away form as they've picked up 1.67 points-per-game on average away from Valley Parade, which sees them lay 5th in the away form table in League One, while at home, Rovers have picked up 1.46 points-per-game.

In the last encounter between these two sides it finished 2-0 to Bradford, and their last visit to the Keepmoat finished 1-0 to them in 2015, which was the first game after Darren Ferguson had been confirmed manager.

The last time Rovers did beat Bradford in the league was in November 2014, when Paul Dickov's side won 2-1 away from home.

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