by The Rovers Review

After beating promotion rivals Portsmouth last weekend, and beating Derby's U23 team this week on penalties, Rovers look to make it 3 out 3 with the visit of Martin Allen's Barnet to the Keepmoat Stadium.

Keegan, Baudry and Mason are all in contention for a start after returning from injury and all completing 90 minutes v Derby midweek. Ferguson has said that Niall Mason can play right back, so we can presume he'll start Mason there, and push Blair back into midfield.

Craig Alcock is picking up his tempo in training, which could mean he'll be back into contention in a few weeks. Unfortunately Frazer Richardson has been ruled out for 2 weeks, meaning by time he is match fit again his contract may be up at Rovers.

Gary McSheffrey and Mitchell Lund are both out for longer periods than first thought, with McSheffrey out for up to 16 weeks and Lund might not be back until the new year.

John Marquis will miss this weekend's match due to suspension after he picked up 5 yellow cards, but Liam Mandeville did enough in midweek to warrant a starting place next to Andy Williams, after scoring Rovers first goal on Tuesday night and also having many more opportunities too. Alfie Beestin is another who impressed on Tuesday, after creating chances and assisting in Mandevilles' goal.

The last time Rovers faced Barnet was way back in 1998, where we suffered a 0-2 defeat at Belle Vue. Our last win v Barnet came in April 1996, so lets hope 20 years on, we can get our first win against them at the Keepmoat.

Overall, Rovers have won 3 out of 12 games v Barnet since 1991, with five of them games ending in draws.

Predicted lineup v Barnet

Marosi; Mason, Wright, Butler, Evina; Houghton, Blair, Rowe, Coppinger; Mandeville and Williams

by The Rovers Review

After beating promotion favourites on Saturday, Rovers look for a quick turn around as Derby's reserves visit the Keepmoat this Tuesday evening.

Team news wise, Darren Ferguson said after the Portsmouth game that he will be looking to give game time to players who haven't had a lot or have been injured.

Frazer Richardson is a doubt after coming off v Portsmouth on Saturday with an injury and, judging by what Ferguson said post-match, it doesn't look like Richardson will be staying after his contract has expired in a few weeks.  

I would expect the following players would come into contention for this game: Etheridge, Mason, Baudry, Garrett, Middleton, Beestin and Mandeville.

John Marquis will more than likely start; being suspended for the upcoming league two fixture against Barnet Ferguson would look to give him game time this Tuesday so he doesn't lose any match sharpness.

Gary McSheffrey won't be close to starting due to being set back on his recovery, but Craig Alcock could come into contention for being on the bench, because he was reportedly at the same recovery stage as Niall Mason was.

I would opt to not involve Alcock, because I think that when he does come back he is going to be a vital part in our defense; right-back seems to still be a weak area of our team with all three right-backs out and Matty Blair having to constantly drop into right-back (not that I'm saying Blair isn't doing a good job, but I think he's more useful to our team attacking wise).

With this being the first time our senior team have met Derby Countys' U23s in a professional match there is no history between the two teams, but I expect that we'll confidently win, especially with there being a number of players in our team, such as Mathieu Baudry, who will want to impress, so that they can have a valid argument for breaking into the first team when the chance arises.

Predicted lineup v Derby County U23s

Etheridge; Mason, Baudry, Fielding, Garrett; Middleton, Calder, Longbottom, Beestin; Mandeville and Marquis.

by The Rovers Review

After not winning our last two games, in a frustrating manner, we head to promotion favorites, Portsmouth, for our latest Sky Bet League Two fixture.

After last weeks game, it's hard to predict what changes Ferguson may make, because at times we seemed to have lacked energy, especially after the game changing penalty miss by Tommy Rowe.

Injury wise, I don't think they'll be any changes, because Niall Mason and Craig Alcock are only in the early stages of their rehabilitation.

I think Alcock is something we're missing right now, because we are conceding a few too many goals for my liking, so I'm very excited to see a defense with him in it.

Also, I think we could do with the likes of Gary McSheffrey, because I feel towards the end of the last two big games that we've already played (against Luton and Carlisle), we've lacked energy going forward, and I feel that if McSheffrey was fit, he would of added that bit of extra pace going forward, that we needed towards the end.

One thing is for sure however, and that is that we need to win this game, because we haven't won in our two previous games, and they have both been our toughest tests yet, so I think a win at Pompey on Saturday will send a massive statement out to league two.

Rovers will face their former three players for the first time on Saturday with: Enda Stevens, Kyle Bennett and Curtis Main now all playing their football. I would've thought Stevens and Bennett will start, but Main is mainly being used as in impact player, and has managed to net just two goals in league two from ten games.

Portsmouths' biggest goal threat, however, comes from midfield, in the form of Gary Roberts, who is their top goal scorer, scoring six goals in ten games.

The last time that we faced Pompey was in March 2013 at home where we drew 1-1 with Chris Brown giving us the lead early in the first half.

We have a lot more luck against them too, because we have won 10 out of 16 games against Pompey, but most of them haven't been comfortable wins, because we've won games by 4-3 or 3-2, and I don't think anything will change this Saturday either, I can see it being a really tight game.

Predicted lineup v Portsmouth
Marosi; Blair, Wright, Butler, Evina; Houghton, Middleton, Rowe, Coppinger; Marquis and Williams.

by The Rovers Review

After Saturday's agonising 3-1 defeat to promotion rivals Luton Town, Rovers welcome Carlisle United to the Keepmoat stadium just three days later on Tuesday.

After dominating and taking the lead against Luton last Saturday within the first 20 minutes we went on to collapse, and not even play good football, so Darren Ferguson will be hoping for more of the first 20 minutes, but this time to try and get that kind of performance for the full 90.

No player really stood out last weekend, so it's hard to predict any changes that Ferguson might make, but Cedric Evina seems to have started off his rollercoaster of inconsistent performances, so I'd presume that Tyler Garrett will be pushing for a place.

Ferguson could look to changing systems too, as we all know that he is avid of the 3-5-2 system, which he also used in the last 20 minutes or so against Luton when he brought Mathieu Baudry on, so he could favour having three at the back, and putting Evina into what I believe is his better position, at left wing-back.

If he was to use the 3-5-2 system, Frazer Richardson may be the unfortunate casualty; Matty Blair is capable of playing at right wing-back and is most likely to be fitter than Richardson too, so he can complete a full 90 minute game.

It is certainly going to be a tough game, due to the fact that we've got a quick turnaround considering that we played only three days ago, and we've also got tough matches against the likes of Portsmouth coming up, so we need to quickly put the Luton result behind us and improve.

Carlisle are the only team in League Two to have not lost a game this season, however they have only won three games. It's not going to be an easy game, but we do like stopping clubs records, for example we finished Wigan's run towards the end of last season, so lets hope we have the same outcome with Carlisle, and put their run to a grinding halt.

We last faced Carlisle in April 2013, where we suffered a 2-0 defeat at home. In addition we have only won 4 out of 8 games against Carlisle since 2003.

Predicted lineup v Carlisle United

Marosi; Wright, Baudry, Butler; Blair, Houghton, Coppinger, Rowe, Evina; Marquis and Williams.

by The Rovers Review

After winning 5 of our last six games we face our toughest test yet, as we visit our promotion rivals Luton Town.

For once there are no fresh injury concerns - Mathieu Baudry and Paul Keegan look to be back looking to push for a start, after completing about an hour in a friendly arranged with Notts County on Tuesday. Ross Etheridge, Tyler Garrett, Will Longbottom, Alfie Beestin and Liam Mandeville also featured in the friendly v Notts County, suggesting they're getting game time there, because they won't start on Saturday - which makes sense.

Based off of last week's match against Newport, I think that Harry Middleton's place will be under scrutiny, after a lackluster performance. On the other hand, Marko Marosi has cemented his place in this weeks team, coming away with a clean sheet and making two or three beautiful saves.

Luton are favorites, along with Rovers,Portsmouth, Plymouth and Carlisle to finish somewhere around the top three this season, so you could say this is going to be our biggest test yet. I think a lot of the players are going to up their game for this one, well I hope anyway, because if we come away from a place like Luton with a comfortable point, or three then I will continue to be elated at our progress so far.

Luton have lost their last two games in Sky Bet League Two, and have managed to win 4 out of 8 games this season, so you could say they've had an inconsistent start, but that does see them sit in 7th in the table going into this match.

The last time we faced Luton was in 2008 in league two and that resulted in a 2-0 victory Rovers, but the last time we visited Luton it was a one all draw, with a goal from James Hayter. Overall, Rovers have won 7 out of 22 games v Luton, and I think it's about time that we change that 7 to an 8, don't you?

Predicted lineup v Luton Town:
Marosi; Blair, Wright, Butler, Evina; Houghton, Rowe, Coppinger, Middleton; Marquis and Williams.