Lincoln City can secure the League One title on Tuesday evening with just a single point as they travel to Doncaster for the final midweek game of the season, writes Kyle Fox.
Rovers secured their place in League One next season with victory away at already relegated Northampton on Saturday afternoon in a comfortable 3-1 win. That result capped off a very positive week for the football club after it was confirmed they had purchased their Cantley Park training facility, also known as the Club Doncaster Elite Performance Centre, from City of Doncaster Council for a reported fee of less than £1 million. That came after an originally agreed 99-year lease with the local authority for the centre, for which they had been paying rent.
Rovers actually started the season very well, losing just once in their first seven games, with the other results being five wins and a draw. During the same period, they also progressed through the first two rounds of the EFL Cup, beating Championship side Middlesbrough 4-0 away and then beating Accrington away in the next round. That earned them a draw away at Tottenham in the following round on 24 September, a game which they went on to lose 3-0, but it was still a memorable day for the club and supporters as a whole. Unfortunately, just before that game, they lost 3-0 away at Wigan, a result that marked the start of a 10-game winless run in the league from mid-September until the end of November. Although, they did manage to progress in both the FA Cup and EFL Trophy during that same period.
Their first league win after that run was against Peterborough at home, which was followed by consecutive wins against Chesterfield as the Dons eliminated them from both the EFL Trophy and FA Cup in the space of five days. Regrettably, what followed the FA Cup win was another poor run, as they lost five games in a row in the league and went without a win in six. After that run, they managed to secure a vital win away at Wimbledon in mid-January to start an improved spell of form over the next five games that included three wins, a draw and a loss.
Doncaster Rovers Form
More recently, they suffered 4-0 defeats both away at Wycombe and at home to Cardiff during February. However, after the previously mentioned win over Wimbledon, they also managed to secure important wins over relegation candidates Leyton Orient, Burton Albion and Rotherham in January and February.
Lately, the aforementioned heavy loss at home to Cardiff was the first in a week of three consecutive defeats for Doncaster from the end of February to early March. The second was at home to Stockport in the EFL Trophy semi-final and the third was away to Plymouth. After that, they went unbeaten for five games throughout the rest of March, with wins over Blackpool, Barnsley and Port Vale, alongside impressive draws against both Luton and Bolton. Rovers then lost consecutive games over the Easter weekend before securing back-to-back wins at home to Reading, followed by the aforementioned win away at Northampton in their last outing. They have won three of their last four home matches. Those consecutive wins and the short unbeaten streak have helped to place Doncaster 7th for form over the last six games (4W, 2D) and 6th over the last ten matches (5W, 2D, 3L), with a goal difference of zero across both periods. They are also 6th in the form table over the course of the last 20 league matches.
Defensively, Grant McCann’s team rank 18th for goals conceded per match (1.5), 15th for clean sheets (11), and they have failed to keep a clean sheet in 15 of their 21 home matches. This is despite the fact they sit 9th for set-piece goals conceded, with 14, and 9th for xG conceded with just 49.7, even though they have actually conceded 65 goals. Attacking-wise, some metrics reflect much better on the team, as they are 10th for xG (61.1), 3rd for big chances (105), 2nd for accurate crosses per match (5.3), and 8th for touches in the opposition box. However, they are also 14th for shots on target per match (3.7) and 20th for goals per match (1.1).
It’s fair to say Owen Bailey has been Doncaster’s standout performer this season. He has played every single league minute so far this season, is the club’s top scorer, and is also top for league goals and assists combined. Bailey has also just been named in the League One team of the season. Centre-back Matthew Pearson has also been a key player for McCann’s side this campaign, alongside Luke Molyneux, who has managed eight goals and seven assists in the league.
Team News
Grant McCann revealed that key attacker Luke Molyneux will miss the rest of the season because he requires surgery on a double hernia. He has been playing through the pain all season, since the issue was first discovered back in August. Billy Sharp has been sidelined since the middle of March and returned to training on Monday, but unfortunately this game will come just too soon for him. James Maxwell has been absent since 24th March whereas former Imp Frankie Okoronkwo has not featured since 27th January. Both Glenn Middleton and Jay McGrath, with the latter coming off the bench, were in the matchday squad on 11th April but neither were included in the squad on Saturday. Defender Neill Byrne returned to the squad against Northampton on Saturday after missing out the previous weekend.
Michael Skubala did not mention any fresh injury concerns for the Imps. He only mentioned some “knocks and bruises” that were sustained during the battle at Stevenage on Saturday afternoon.
Predicted Doncaster XI
Lo-Tutala, Senior, Pearson, Grehan, Sterry, Gotts, Bailey, Lee, Clifton, Gibson, Hanlan.
Previous Meetings
This fixture has occurred quite frequently over recent years, in both league and cup competitions. The most recent one was in November of last year which ended in a 2-1 win for the Imps at Sincil Bank.
Prior to that, Doncaster were unbeaten in five meetings with the Imps in league action, totalling four wins and one draw from August 2019 to February 2022.
The last meeting between these two at the Eco-Power Stadium came in a Carabao Cup clash in August 2022. Lincoln ran out 3-0 winners, putting an end to that winless run against the Dons.
Prediction
Doncaster 1-2 Lincoln
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