by The Rovers Review

Undefeated from the opening day of the season in all competitions, and brimming with confidence, Rovers travel to Wimbledon for the final game of August.

After scoring four goals in as many games, Alfie May comes into contention to start this Saturday after Darren Ferguson admitted it would be "harsh" to drop the in-form 24-year-old and it is likely that it will come at the expense of Rovers youngster, Liam Mandeville.

Mathieu Baudry has hit a set-back in his recovery from injury as he was supposed to be almost fit for this fixture, however his recovery date has been taken back to towards the end of September now along with Luke McCullough.

Ahead of this Saturday's trip, Darren Ferguson had the following to say,
“Saturday now is a big game now in the fact that if we win it, you would have to say it’s a very good first month of the season. You would’ve taken that, third round of the cup, two points per game.
But obviously we’ve got to win the game. Saturday’s going to be a very tough one. They’ve played one formation out of their last four games. They’ve got a front three that are very lively and can be a handful.”

The last time Rovers actually faced Wimbledon was in January 1982, where they lost 3-1 at Belle Vue. However, the last time we visited them - in the same season - we won 1-0.

Predicted line-up vs AFC Wimbledon
Lawlor, Mason, Wright, Butler, Andrew, Whiteman, Blair, Rowe, Coppinger, May, Marquis

by The Rovers Review

The Carabao Cup second round see's the visit of Hull City to the Keepmoat this Tuesday.

Striker Alfie May has made three consecutive appearances off the bench to score in all three appearances and Darren Ferguson has confirmed that he will start against Hull this Tuesday, but will it be at the expense of John Marquis or Liam Mandeville? My bet would be on Liam Mandeville being dropped, due to his goal drought compared to Marquis' two in two. Ferguson also hinted that the likes of Rodney Kongolo and Issam Ben Khemis could all come into contention to start on Tuesda,y but he also warned he wouldn't be making an abundance of changes ahead of this cup tie as he wants to win it - and he also believes that the game is winnable too.

The biggest attacking threat from Hull, Abel Hernandez, won't be in action on Tuesday due to injury and they could be without their star midfielder Sam Clucasm, due to him being close to joining a Premier League club.

The previous time these two teams met was actually n the League Cup in 2012 at the Keepmoat, when Rovers narrowly beat the Tigers 3-2 with a double from Dave Syers and Rob Jones with the third.

Predicted line-up vs Hull City
Lawlor; Mason, Wright, Butler, Andrew; Whiteman, Kongolo, Ben Khemis, Rowe; May and Marquis.

by The Rovers Review

Rovers' unbeaten start to the season will be tested against Gary Bowyer's tangerines, Blackpool.
 
Coming into the game Rovers don't have any fresh injury concerns, but will still be without Mathieu Baudry, Luke McCullough and Alex Kiwomya.
 
Darren Ferguson will certainly have a selection headache up front with three in-form strikers Marquis, Mandeville and May all in contention as well as League One veteran, Andy Williams a consideration too. Marquis got his first goal of the season last weekend against Blackburn, while May scored his second in as many games too last weekend.
 
Pre-match Ferguson highlighted that Rovers are in for a tough test against a team who have previously beaten Rovers one-nil during the last two games at Keepmoat late on in the game,
“It’ll be a difficult game, but we’ve got great energy and they’ll have to match that, we have to stay patient and make it tough for them.”
 
It’s fair to say that Rovers’ defense will have to keep highly concentrated throughout Saturday as they’ll be up against the likes of Nathan Delfouneso, Max Clayton and Mark Cullen.
 
The last time these two teams met was last season during League Two, which ended one-nil to Blackpool at the Keepmoat back in April with the only goal coming from the penalty spot in the 90th minute from Jordan Flores.

Predicted lineup v Blackpool
Lawlor; Mason, Wright, Butler, Andrew; Whiteman, Blair, Rowe, Coppinger; Mandeville and Marquis

by The Rovers Review

ROVERS will travel to Blackburn Rovers in their first away game of the season on the back of their thrilling 3-2 win over Bradford City in the cup midweek.

Team news-wise, Darren Ferguson confirmed that Tuesday's absentees (Coppinger, Blair, Williams, Mandeville) will all come back into contention this weekend. In addition, Issam Ben Khemis has had his international cleared accepted, so he is now an option for Ferguson down the left.

Pre-match Ferguson was very confident in John Marquis, after not scoring all pre-season and for the first two games, Ferguson reflected that he didn't score until his third game last season and that as long as he's getting goals from other areas of the pitch and Marquis still puts in a shift - he's not too concerned.

When asked about Blackburn, Ferguson had the following to say, "He [Tony Mowbray] is a very good manager, very, very good manager. He's like the club itself and a lot of their players, not a League One manager. They're very organized and it's gonna be a tough game."

It's also fair to say they do have a lot of good players too, with a strong midfield consisting of the likes of Bradley Dack and Richie Smallwood, then up front the likes of Danny Graham along with an experienced defense consisting of Paul Caddis.

Predicted lineup v Blackburn Rovers
Lawlor; Mason, Wright, Butler, Andrew; Whiteman, Blair, Rowe, Coppinger; Marquis and Mandeville

Rovers are set to kick off their campaign in the Carabao Cup, with a visit to local rivals Bradford City.

After drawing 0-0 with Gillingham last Saturday, Darren Ferguson will certainly be looking for his players to be more clinical in front of goal this coming Tuesday evening.

Matty Blair is a doubt for this game, due to it being is brother’s funeral the following day, so Darren Ferguson has said that he will talk to Blair about whether he wants to play – stating the decision is down to Blair himself. This could mean a first start for new signing, Rodney Kongolo, who came on during the second half v Gillingham on Saturday, keeping the game alive!

Andy Williams and Issam Ben Khemis will also miss the game through a hamstring injury and international clearance, respectively.
Darren Ferguson has hinted at making a subtle rotation ahead of this game, citing that he thinks some players won’t be at full match fitness until the end of August.

Last time Rovers faced Bradford City was in March 2016, where Rovers lost 2-1 at the Coral Windows Stadium with Jamie Proctor scoring a double for the Bantams, while Nathan Tyson grabbed a consolidation goal.

Predicted lineup v Bradford City
Marosi; Mason, Alcock, Wright, Garratt; Whiteman, Kongolo, Rowe, Co; Marquis and Mandeville.