by Adam Stubbings

The late, late show against Crewe will go down as one of the greatest moments in Keepmoat history, oddly enough up there with another 3-2 comeback win over Crewe in 2007, a result that sent us to Wembley courtesy of Jason Price's last minute winner. Rovers are in high gear now heading into the Christmas fixtures, and head to league leaders Burton brimming with confidence and belief. Defensive lapses belied a dominant display hampered only by the adverse playing conditions last weekend, and the ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat is a rare attribute in a Doncaster Rovers side.

Our current four game unbeaten run includes a terrific draw away at Coventry, top of the league at the time. Saturday's opponents Burton are now back at the summit of League One and on a four match winning run of their own, but are stepping into the relative unknown when they face the Rovers with new manager Nigel Clough set for his first game in charge of the Brewers in nearly seven years. In 11 years as player-manager, Clough guided Burton from the Unibond League to the brink of the Football League before departing for illustrious neighbours Derby, but returns to a club now at the highest point in their history and with expectations of keeping their place at the top. Their game saw a superb 3-0 victory over promotion rivals Gillingham, the team who handed Paul Dickov his final defeat as Rovers boss back in September.

Four days prior to that result, Rovers and Burton met in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. A drab affair was scoreless at full time, and Rovers won 5-3 on penalties to advance. We also defeated Burton in last year's competition, running out comfortable 3-0 winners at the Pirelli Stadium but these are the only two meetings between the sides since both played in the Conference in 2003. Rovers actually take a 100% record against Burton into this weekend's fixture, but this will surely be the toughest of the five matches to date with our opponents five points clear at the top and boasting the best defence in the league. Clough was at the helm for those non-league meetings over a decade ago, but more recently guided Sheffield United to a pair of derby victories over Rovers last season.

Dany N'Guessan and Gary Mackenzie remain sidelined for Rovers, but Felipe Mattioni may be fit enough to return to the bench. Young trio Cedric Evina, Mitchell Lund and Harry Middleton all signed welcome new contracts this week and should be on the teamsheet again here, whilst Burton will be without midfielders Robbie Weir and Zeli Ismail as well as defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, whilst former Rovers winger Mark Duffy is expected to line-up against his former club.

by Adam Stubbings

Rovers booked their place in the 3rd Round of the F.A. Cup last time out with a superb second half comeback against League 2 Cambridge. Having fallen behind to an extremely dubious penalty, three goals in 11 minutes after the interval turned the tie on its' head in front of the BBC Final Score cameras, with Conor Grant netting twice, his second an outstanding curling effort from outside the box. The reward is Stoke City in Round 3, but until then there is the small matter of continuing to try and revive our fortunes in the league. Crewe are the visitors this weekend, fresh from a week off owing to their F.A. Cup 1st Round defeat at the hands of non-league Eastleigh a month ago.

Since then, Steve Davis' side have had an upturn in fortunes and have hauled themselves off the foot of the League One table. Successive wins over fellow strugglers Colchester and Oldham leave the Alex just a point shy of safety and five points behind Rovers. We are now unbeaten in three matches and return to the Keepmoat off the back of an impressive away draw against high-flying Coventry, and a sublime home win against Chesterfield in our last Keepmoat outing.

Rovers are unbeaten in three meetings with Saturday's opponents, winning this fixture 2-1 last season courtesy of goals from the now departed duo of Dean Furman and Richie Wellens, completing a 90th minute comeback win after an early goal from George Ray on a Tuesday night in February. Crewe haven't defeated us in the league since taking a 2-0 win on our turf in the League One title-winning campaign, the awe-inspiring midfield of James Harper and Martin Woods somehow failing to steer Rovers to a victory.

Loanees Conor Grant and Craig Alcock both extended their stays at the club this week, meaning they will be available through the Christmas period and into the New Year. Mitchell Lund scored his first senior goal in an impressive display last weekend after returning to the side to replace the injured Felipe Mattioni, and there are no new injury concerns for Darren Ferguson ahead of the game with Richard Chaplow and Rob Jones the only long-term absentees.

The club have today announced ticket pricing details for the Emirates FA Cup round three clash with Stoke City, and it's great news for supporters!

The match, to be played at the Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday 9th January 2016, has been priced at just £15 for an adult ticket, with junior fans tickets starting at just £1.  The full ticket prices for all categories are :

Adult	£15.00
Seniors	£10.00
17-21	£8.00
12-16	£5.00
11 and under	£1.00

This is the first time the two teams have met since the Rovers beat Stoke 3-1 in the League Cup in 1960, and the Premier League outfit will surely send a strong side to contest a place in the Round 4 draw.

Tickets go on sale from Monday for season ticket holders with their seats held until 31st December.  Alliance members will also be able to buy from Monday, and have priority until 20th December.  

Supporters with a ticket for the Scunthorpe home game can buy from 21st December, with general sale commencing on 28th December.

As supporters may be aware, there was an incident during the last home match with Chesterfield which resulted in VSC Secretary Martin O'Hara being ejected from the stadium.

The trust is delighted to be able to inform supporters that the club have apologised to Martin for this action, having conducted an investigation and found that he did nothing to warrant this outcome.  Both the trust and Martin as an individual would like to thank the club for reaching the correct decision.

Furthermore, this incident has opened the way for a very productive debate with the club around stewarding standards and the important role stewards play in both supporter safety and customer service.  Many stewards in the stadium deliver their matchday role to a very high standard, and this is regularly recognised and commented upon by supporters, but what this incident has highlighted is that there is always room for improvement.  The Football Supporters Federation will be assisting the club to become a leader in positive matchday stewarding and help ensure supporters are treated both fairly and consistently through this approach.  

The trust recognises this as a very positive step for the benefit of all supporters attending matches at the Keepmoat Stadium.

by Adam Stubbings

Another encouraging result for Rovers last time out saw us take a well earned point from a visit to league leaders Coventry, with this another example of the improvement seen in the side under Darren Ferguson so far. The 2-2 draw demonstrated our ability to compete with the best sides in League One, and show fortitude to twice come from a goal behind courtesy of Nathan Tyson's double. The striker is back in form and also had a chance to win it only to be denied by the width of a crossbar, and he will be hoping to link up with Andy Williams again to find the winning formula as we return to F.A. Cup action on Sunday.

Yes, we're playing our 2nd Round tie on Sunday this year after being selected to be part of the BBC's Final Score Special coverage, meaning that any Rovers fans not making the trip south for our trip to Cambridge United can still see the action as it unfolds by tuning in to Jason Mohamed and friends on the BBC. This is a first for Rovers and could be a fun way to follow the afternoon's proceedings, providing we don't get soundly beaten on national television.

Cambridge are having an unremarkable season so far in League Two and sit 15th going into the tie. They recently appointed former Notts County boss Shaun Derry as their manager after relieving Richard Money of his duties less than 18 months on from securing promotion back to the Football League, with the dismissal coming just prior to The U's 1st Round victory over Basingstoke Town. Derry has now managed back to back wins to earn his first points as Cambridge boss, a 4-2 result at Morecambe followed up last Saturday by a 3-1 win against his former club Notts County, and a bit of added spice comes from the fact that Derry was reportedly on the interview shortlist for the Rovers job prior to the appointment of Darren Ferguson.

This will be only the fourth competitive meeting between the two sides since the turn of the century, with both sides owning a single victory over the other in that time. Easily the most memorable of those fixtures was our 2-0 home victory on Easter Monday 2004, Adebayo Akinfenwa and Paul Green netting to secure a remarkable second successive promotion for Rovers and catapult us into the third tier less than a year on from playing in non-league. That day will live long in the memory for all Rovers fans, and another result like that this weekend could propel us into the mouth-watering territory of drawing a top Premier League side in the 3rd Round of the F.A. Cup.

Ferguson hopes to have more first team players at his disposal this weekend after the squad recovered from a recent sickness bug. Mitchell Lund should be fit to return, possibly filling the void left by Felipe Mattioni after the Everton loanee limped out of the Coventry game, whilst Paul Keegan could also be back in contention. There was also a boost on the loan front this week as Conor Grant extended his stay at the Keepmoat through to the New Year. Rovers enter as favourites but will be wary of the banana skin as they look to avoid being one of the talking points of Sunday's BBC showcase.