Tranmere Rovers look to edge closer to those play-off positions on Tuesday evening as they visit Doncaster Rovers in Sky Bet League Two.
A frustrating afternoon on Saturday at Stockport County must be put behind them as Tranmere Rovers look to pick up three points to edge them closer to the play-off positions.
The last meeting between the two sides was less than a month ago, as ‘Donny’ visited Prenton Park for festive football on Boxing Day – and Mellon’s side ran out 3-0 winners to keep the points on the Wirral peninsula.
The scheduled fixture earlier in January was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Doncaster have good home form this season – winning 7 and drawing 1 of 13 matches played at the Eco-Power Stadium in this campaign. The Rovers, however, have mixed form away from home this season, winning 4, drawing 4 and losing 6.
A win for Micky Mellon’s side is vital to ensure that those play-off positions don’t slip out of their control come the end of the season.
One To Watch: Kyle Hurst
Kyle Hurst is a 20-year-old English winger who has begun life in the EFL Sky Bet League Two very well so far this season, scoring 5 goals in 26 games from the wide position.
The young attacker was born in Milton Keynes in 2002 and started his youth career at local grassroots clubs, before being picked up by MK Dons. He left Stadium MK to pursue a scholarship, aged 18, at Birmingham City FC.
He later signed his first professional contract at City, where he failed to make a first team appearance over an unsettled two-year period due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, where squads were limited and uncertainty loomed over football, between 2020 and 2022.
A loan move was mostly unsuccessful for Hurst, joining Southern League club, Alvechurch – where he made just 4 appearances in non-league.
He was later picked up by Doncaster Rovers last summer, and has made 26 appearances in League Two so far this season, scoring 5 times.
The attacker definitely brings flare and pace to the ‘Donny’ side and will be one to watch for Tranmere on Saturday afternoon.
The Manager: Danny Schofield
Doncaster Head Coach, Danny Schofield, was appointed the boss at the Eco-Power Stadium in October this year.
The former Huddersfield Town manager started his senior football career at The Terriers back in 1998, where he stayed for 10 years, playing in their First Team 248 times as an attacking midfielder - scoring 39 times.
In the remaining 9 years of his career, Schofield enjoyed spells at numerous different clubs – including making 43 appearances for Yeovil Town, 67 appearances for Millwall, 37 for Rotherham United, 8 for Accrington Stanley and 5 for Stockport County, before dropping to non-league.
His non-league career spanned over 3 seasons, for 3 different clubs – FC Halifax Town, Bradford Park Avenue and Mickleover Sports, before retiring in the summer of 2017.
During his non-league career, he started his coaching qualifications, so as soon as retirement came, Schofield was a coach at Leeds United Academy. In 2019, the current Donny manager left United to coach Middlesborough’s Under 23 team.
After just six months on the East Coast, he returned to boyhood club Huddersfield Town after the sacking of Danny Cowley. He was caretaker manager at Town, before a new manager came in and Schofield hence dropped down to the B Team.
He was then promoted to First Team Head Coach after the sacking of Carlos Corberan, however, was sacked after just 1 win in the first 8 games.
Doncaster then came calling, where Danny was appointed as Head Coach in October.
Match Coverage:
You can also follow the action through our social media channels below, with full text coverage during the fixture, followed by a match report.
Twitter: @tranmererovers
Facebook: @trfcofficial
Instagram: @tranmererovers
Match reaction from Micky Mellon and a player will follow on our website and YouTube channel.