Match Preview: Doncaster Rovers v Aston Villa

By: Chris | January 23rd, 2009

Doncaster Rovers v Aston Villa
FA Cup Fourth Round
Keepmoat Stadium
Saturday 24th January 2009, 3.00pm

During three years of hell under pug-nosed deluded devilspawn David O’Leary, the worst moment was a 3-0 hammering at the hands of lower league Doncaster Rovers. We weren’t outfought by plucky underdogs – we were taken to football school. Facing a Donny Rovers now in the Championship, some Villa fans are aching for revenge, others are full of trepidation. Bring on the rematch.

League Form Guide

Aston Villa: WWDWWW (Premier League)

Villa are picking up wins for fun at the moment, without playing particularly well. Five wins from six is not to be sniffed at, especially when the draw was against Arsenal and we deserved more. Five away wins on the spin demonstrates our strength on the counter attack, but Ashley Young has been key and misses out on Saturday.

Doncaster Rovers: LLLWWW (Championship)

Doncaster are struggling in third-from-bottom in the Championship after James Hayter’s rocket header helped them to play off promotion. But the last three games have resulted in impressive wins which could well provide the springboard for survival. I hope that’s the case.

Team News

Villa’s major absentees include John Carew and Wilfred Bouma, both of whom have returned to full training.

Martin Laursen’s injury is now being ‘managed’ but I expect Zat Knight to step in for this one. I think we might play a slightly weakened team given our fight for Premier League places. I hope it doesn’t cost us.

Luke Young and Ashley Young are suspended after picking up a red and yellow card respectively at the Stadium of Light.

The big news from Rovers is that defender James Chambers is suspended for Villa’s visit. Gareth Roberts could deputise. The men to watch out for include Lewis Guy and John Spicer, and former Villa man Darren Byfield is back at the club following a loan spell at Oldham Athletic and may or may not be in contention for a place on the bench.

Why Doncaster away is a must-win

Honestly, I do quite fancy a bit of revenge. It was not Doncaster’s fault, it was O’Leary’s. But this is how football works. The most important thing about winning is that we would avoid humuliation. No offence to Doncaster (I like Rovers, as my previous post about them shows), but two defeats against them would be too much to bear.

It’s also time we put together a good FA Cup run.

Coverage

ITV.com have been in touch to confirm that extended highlights the game will be available from midnight on Sunday, regardless of how much of it they show on ITV’s Saturday night highlights show. I’m out on Saturday night, so I’m rather pleased about that.

Betting