by The Rovers Review

After picking up 4 points out of 6 on the road in the previous two games, Rovers look to back-to-back home games, beginning with the visit of Cheltenham Town.

Striker Liam Mandeville comes back into contention of the starting 18 after successfully recovering from injury, which in turn applies added pressure to current strikers Alfie May and John Marquis, with Andy Williams and now Liam Mandeville looking to break back into the first team. Joe Wright has begun 'straight line running', which means he's almost recovered from his little set-back and Paul Keegan has also injured himself, so he'll be out for a short amount of time too.

Should Rovers get another penalty this weekend the big question will be, who will take it? Ferguson has ruled out previous contenders Marquis, Williams and Rowe, and he hinted that a defender could take the step up; could Baudry be next to step up to the spot? In addition Ferguson shared his disbelief that Coppinger hasn't been a penalty taker during in his time at the club.

Darren Ferguson wants form to get back on track after describing Rovers recent bad form as "good" at the same time, due to the fact that they've still managed to pick-up points still and remain unbeaten at home, while maintaining in top spot in the league.

Head-to-heads
Cheltenham could be set to break a club record, after not conceding in their last four games. If they make it to the 50th minute without conceding, then they've broke the record.

Their away record isn't too good however, having only picked up 17 points from 16 games on the road, which see's them with 20th worst record in the league, just in front of Accrington, Newport, Yeovil and Hartlepool.

Players to watch
Midfielder, Billy Waters, is their player to watch with 10 league goals this campaign.

For obvious reasons, goalkeeper, Scott Brown will be one hard player to beat, because he'll be wanting to be part of a record-breaking team, in addition he hasn't conceded in his last four games.

Previous encounters
Previously on the road, Rovers were 1-0 victors with a goal John Marquis.

Last time Cheltenham came to the Keepmoat was in, January 2009, which was in the FA Cup and saw Sean O'Driscoll's men comfortably win 3-0, with goals from Brian Stock and Sam Hird.

Predicted lineup v Cheltenham Town
Lawlor; Blair, Baudry, Butler, Alcock; Mason, Grant, Rowe, Coppinger; May and Marquis.

by The Rovers Review

Rovers look to make it back-to-back wins as they visit Crawley Town this Saturday.

Although he was expected to possibly be available, Liam Mandeville has been ruled out until at least the Cheltenham game next weekend. Luke McCullough will start training next week after being ruled out for the season during summer last year, which means he could be back into the team by April.

Ferguson has praised John Marquis for reaching 20 goals this season against Cambridge by saying that he's, "the best I have worked with" along with the likes of Gayle and Assombalonga. He's also urged for Rovers "to put their foot on the gas" so we keep winning games, but only take each game as it comes and try not to look too far into the future.

Head-to-heads
Crawley have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 2 from their last 8 home games leaving them with a decent home record considering they sit 16th in the league.

It's fair to say as John Marquis reaches 20 goals for this campaign - making him the first Rovers player to reach 20 football league goals in 40 years - that Rovers are going to be the team who threaten to score the most goals with 66 goals already scored this season compared to Crawley's 41 goals, 20 of which have come at their home ground.

Players to watch
Crawley striker, James Collins, is their top goal scorer and is going to be Ian Lawlor's biggest threat, as he looks to join Marquis in the 20's club as he currently sits with 18 goals in total this season, 16 coming in the league.

Their midfielder, Jimmy Smith, is their second top goal scorer with 6 goals in the league this season - he's also had the most assists for Crawley by getting 5 assists too.

Previous encounters
Crawley last faced Rovers on the second game of the season, which ended in an infuriating 1-1 draw, due to Rovers not being able to take chances.

Last time visiting the Checkatrade.com Stadium, Rovers were 5-0 victors with goals from Andy Butler, Richie Wellens, Nathan Tyson, Harry Forester and Curtis Main - safe to say somethings have changed since that game in February 2015.

Predicted lineup v Crawley Town
Lawlor; Blair, Baudry, Butler, Alcock; Mason, Grant, Rowe, Coppinger; May and Marquis.

by The Rovers Review

After not winning in the last four games, Rovers are expected to get back to winning ways this Saturday with the visit of John Coleman's Accrington Stanley.

Midfielder Jordan Houghton has returned to his parent club, Chelsea, after sustaining an injury, which will keep him out until the end of the season. Ferguson has said that there's plenty of players who can step into his position, such as Paul Keegan, Harry Middleton, Mathieu Baudry and Niall Mason.

However, I do doubt that it'll be Baudry to make the step up, due to the fact that fellow defender Joe Wright has suffered a knock in training and will be out for 3-4 weeks; another blow to Rovers defence injury wise.

Gary McSheffrey is still far from starting, but is still going to be used as an 'impact player', during games where we need his skill upfront.

Ferguson also has a selection headache over whether to drop Andy Williams, who hasn't scored since boxing day and replace him with new boy Alfie May, who scored his first ever Rovers and football league goal on his home debut against Luton last Saturday.

Head-to-heads

Accrington have the third-worst away form in the league only managing to pick up 13 points away from home, whereas Rovers maintain the best home form in the league by not losing at home so far this season.

Accrington have only scored 12 goals on the road this season, so it's safe to say they may not be causing too much of a goal threat, however they've only conceded 22 goals this season away from home, whereas Rovers have conceded 38 at home.

Players to watch

Midfielder, Romuald Boco is their key player, who has managed to score six goals in 11 appearances for Accrington.

Another 'Kee' player for Accrington is, Billy Kee, who has scored 10 in 21 for Accrington.

Previous encounters

Rovers last faced Accrington on the first day of the season, which ended in a 3-2 defeat for Rovers, with a late goal from Sean McConville to seal the three points for Accrington on that day. Goals from Tommy Rowe and Andy Williams on the day, however, made the defeat seem less embarrassing.

Last time Accrington visited the Keepmoat stadium was in August 2010, when they visited for the league cup, and ended up beating Rovers then too by 2 goals to 1. Again, their goals on that day came late on in the game, so they ended up nicking the win.

Predicted lineup v Accrington Stanley

Lawlor; Alcock, Butler, Baudry, Mason; Grant, Blair, Rowe, Coppinger; May and Marquis.

by The Rovers Review

After suffering a 2-1 defeat away to promotion rivals, Carlisle United, Rovers look to extend their home run by bouncing back and beating fellow promotion rivals, Luton Town.

Defenders, Andy Butler and Mathieu Baudry should be available for selection after missing Carlisle's defeat through sickness bug and injury respectively. Gary McSheffrey is nowhere near starting, but Ferguson has alluded to the fact that he is considering him to be an impact player as it stands. Liam Mandeville has begun training on the grass, but isn't any closer to featuring again.

Ferguson has said there is no "doom and gloom" with anyone associated with the club after failing to win in three matches, but he did say that his team needs to be more "ruthless", in both boxes.

Loanee midfielder, Jordan Houghton, has said that the current form is "dissapointing", but is confident of replicating the same run Rovers did after falling to defeat at Plymouth a few months ago. Houghton also said that he hasn't thought about his future for after the season, but would be open to a possible return to the Keepmoat.

Head-to-heads
Luton have the second best defence in the league - just behind Portsmouth - due to them only conceeding 29 goals within 31 games. However, the second best defence in the league will come up against the best offensive team, with Rovers scoring  60 within just as many games.

Rovers remain unbeaten at home this season, and with just 8 more home games to go will they be able to continue this form? Or will Luton, who have 24 points from 15 games (away from home), be able to do something no other team have done at the Keepmoat this year, and that is beat Rovers?

Players to watch
Striker, Danny Hylton, has 18 goals in total for the hatters this season, with 14 coming in league two.

Their star midfielder, Cameron McGeehan is out with  a broken leg, and he managed to score 10 league goals, before his huge injury midseason.

Previous encounters
In the reverse fixture, Luton beat Rovers frustratingly 3-1, after Rovers took the lead early on courtesy of, James Coppinger.

In the previous home fixture in 2008, Rovers won 2-0 with goals from: Matthew Mills and Mark McCammon.

Overall, Rovers have quite a poor record over Luton winning 7, drawing 5 and losing 11 since 1947.

Predicted lineup v Luton Town
Lawlor; Blair, Baudry, Butler, Mason; Houghton, Grant, Rowe, Coppinger; Marquis and Williams.

by The Rovers Review

After drawing the previous two games, Rovers look to get back to winning ways against 3rd place, Carlisle United.

James Coppinger is expected return to the starting 11, following his absence last Friday after picking up a knock in training. It's believed he was rested over the weekend so that he could feature against Carlisle and Luton in our next two games.

Defender Mathieu Baudry is a doubt after also picking up a knock during training, but information regarding his injury seems to be bleak. Joe Wright could keep his place in defense after impressing v Newport, or Craig Alcock could fill in at centre back and Matty Blair slide back into right back, allowing Coppinger back into midfield.

Striker Liam Mandeville his halfway through his recovery so won't feature against Carlisle, which is lucky for Andy Williams, because this gives him more time to try and get back to his scoring ways, with Williams not scoring so far this year.

Head-to-heads
Carlisle have the fourth best home record in the league picking up 29 points from 15 game at home. However, they have failed to win in their last four games at home. Doncaster on the other hand, are the third best away team in the league picking up 26 points away from home from 15 games; only Plymouth and Exeter have a better record.

At home Carlisle have scored 28 goals, whereas Rovers have scored 29 on the road - so you could think that there may be a few goals in this match!

Players to watch
Midfielder, Jason Kennedy, is Carlisle's player to watch with him scoring 11 goals in total for the Cumbrians and 10 of them have come in the league. He's closely followed by striker, Jabo Ibehre, who has score 7 league goals for Carlisle this season.

Previous encounters
Last time we met was back in September 2016 at the beginning of the season where we drew 2-2, and so far I believe that they have been one of the best teams I've seen come to the Keepmoat this season.The two goals in that game came from Tommy Rowe and John Marquis.

Last time we visited their place, we won 3-1 back in league one in 2012, with goals from Rob Jones, David Cotterill and Tommy Spurr.

Overall, Rovers have won 23 games, drawn 17 and lost 23 against Carlisle since 1927, in all competitions.

Predicted lineup v Carlisle United
Lawlor; Alcock, Wright, Butler, Mason; Houghton, Blair, Grant, Rowe; Marquis and Williams.