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.