Doncaster Rovers v BORO (25th August 2026 KO 7.30pm).
Carabao Cup - Club Doncaster Sports Village, Doncaster.
Let’s start with the apology: sorry for coming to this late (the season not just this Match Preview). I am typing this on late lunchtime on Saturday 22nd August so the results of today’s games being played by BORO and Doncaster Rovers, and both teams’ performances, are not yet known. If it proves possible, I will try to add information about those games later but I make no promise.
It is the birthday of Mrs Dormo on Monday and things are planned. I have jobs to do today and on Sunday. Events, dear boy, events… I don’t claim any particular expertise on League One clubs generally, nor Doncaster Rovers in particular. Each team has played only one league game and one Carabao Cup game this season before today so, even if it were possible for me in the time left to do the necessary research, it would probably not tell me much. Therefore, although this is a Match Preview, it may not be a Match Preview as we know it, Jim.
BORO and Doncaster are two of the most venerable OGs of football. Amongst the still-existing professional ASSOCIATION football clubs of the world, BORO is in the Top 12, founded in 1876 just after Kjobenhavns Boldklub (KB) of Copenhagen, and Rovers from 1879 feature in the list at No 22. BORO was admitted to the Football League in 1899 and Rovers followed suit in 1901 so both have obviously been early adopters of the professional game. Although BORO flirted with danger in 1986 it has always remained within the EFL/PL pyramid, whilst Rovers has had a few periods of relegation from and re-election/promotion back to the League.
Boro has spent the vast majority of its football life in the last 127 years in the top 2 divisions whilst “Donny” has spent most of its EFL life in the third and fourth tiers with a few excursions to the second (but not the absolute pinnacle). So, the clubs have generally ploughed their own separate furrows in the football league world. However, even clubs separated by league divisions might expect, over more than a century and a quarter, to have been drawn against each other many times in the major Cup competitions. Not so for BORO and Doncaster.
In all that time only TWO previous major cup games between the teams are recorded. In the FA Cup in 1952 (for most supporters beyond living memory) BORO played Rovers at Ayresome Park, losing 1-4, whilst in the Carabao (League) Cup BORO had a much more recent tie on 12th August 2025. You may remember the rumpus as BORO lost at The Riverside 0-4.
I reminded myself of that only previous Carabao Cup meeting between the clubs by looking at the Match Preview prepared for it by Clive Hurren on this Blog. Unsurprisingly confident, Clive quite reasonably said that was a tie which “On paper Boro should win. Having said that, this is a classic banana skin”. And that is just what it turned out to be.
Responses on Clive’s thread were scathing as regards the performance given by BORO in the game. To run through a few of the later comments, one described the game as a “new low”, others as an “utter shambles”, “not good enough”, “useless, appalling, rubbish and embarrassing” and finally amongst the selection “toothless, ponderous and clueless”. Despite confidence under then-manager Rob Edwards in his pre-rodent phase of development, BORO came the proverbial cropper. That came about despite the Doncaster Free Press being reported as confirming Rovers had changed its entire starting XI from the one which had played its league game a few days earlier. There could hardly be any comfort in the suggestion that Boro had “rested” a few players since lowly Rovers had rested its whole team!
No doubt regular readers of this Blog will pray in aid the frequently quoted adage (or warning/disclaimer) that “past performance is not indicative of future results”. That will be a relief bearing in mind the fact that our BORO heroes conceded 4 goals in each game during the only two major cup ties between BORO and Doncaster, both played in Middlesbrough. It might be a minor comfort that, this time, the game will be played in Doncaster.
The Rovers stadium is the football equivalent of Prince. The Club Doncaster Sports Village (as it has been known since last month) was formerly known as the Eco-Power Stadium from 2022, and prior to that was known as the Keepmote Stadium which opened on 1st January 2007 with a game against Huddersfield Town. The name changes relate to sponsorship deals and PR related issues rather than a change of stadium and the club had previously played at the Belle View ground from 1922 to 2006.
The teams for the Saturday games not having been released yet, I have no idea which players will be named on Tuesday by BORO and Doncaster. I have no idea what degree of priority will be given by the respective coaches to this Carabao Cup tie but I suspect for Boro supporters there will be something rather more inviting on offer at the end of this season. Players may be “saved” for upcoming league games and replaced by squad players, not that this proved to be a factor the last time the 2 teams played a year ago. However, if there IS to be a mass-replacement event dictating the players selected, one can only say that after the latest excursions into the transfer market, BORO’s replacements should represent much better strength in depth than Doncaster’s.
Rovers’ manager is the same as a year ago: Grant McCann. He previously played for 8 clubs mostly in England but ending with 8 games for Linfield in his native Northern Ireland before turning to coaching/management. McCann is a serial offender in terms of management, having been full-time manager at Peterborough United twice, one spell at Hull City and is now on his 2nd spell at Doncaster. If he does well this season and should Hull be relegated, he may get the call from Hull to complete a treble of doubles.
As to the Rovers players he might select, your guess is probably better than mine. Of course we are still in the summer Transfer Window and nobody is permanent at League One if the right bid comes in. As to BORO, the issue is whether some of the newly acquired players will be given a run-out to bed them into the squad, although I heard it mentioned in the last day or so (was it in a Press Conference by Kim Hellberg?) that the new centre-back signing Ashley Phillips (£7M plus add-ons) will not be available for a week or two as he needs training time to get up to full speed and fitness.
At least we know Seny Dieng will not be between the posts as he has finally been offloaded (to Greece). Maybe Sol Bryn will return to play (he was in position for the previous Carabao Cup game against Wrexham) or Hellberg may prefer to allow No 1 keeper Radek Vitek to keep the gloves in order to get to know his defenders better following his recent transfer into the club. Perhaps those who came on as substitutes in the only league game played so far, against Lincoln City last week, will get a run-out? In that case we may well see Max Arfsten start with Alfie Jones, Myles Peart-Harris and Jeremy Sarmiento but surely not Riley McGree despite his lighting up the second half of the Lincoln game. Keeping him fit and not over-used will be vital this season.
I can hear the haunting theme from The Twilight Zone when considering the likely outcome of this match. I mentioned that in August 2025 Doncaster made massive changes to the team line-up from the earlier game the club had played (which happened to be against Mansfield). This might sound spooky in view of the rarity of major cup games between Rovers and BORO, but as we move into THIS cup tie, Rovers’ only previous league game this season at the time of typing was also against Mansfield Town (a 2-1 defeat on 15th August). Let’s hope cosmic forces are not at play here.
In view of the quality of the squad available, the additions to that squad in recent weeks and the fact that BORO’s ambitions lie in the Premier League next season, it would be reasonable to expect BORO to have too much for Rovers in this cup tie. But then I hear the voices from Stage Left reminding me this game, like the one a year ago, is a potential banana skin and reminding me of the four-goal home thrashing handed to BORO last time.
Should I repeat last year’s 2-0 prediction made in Clive’s previous thread? Yes! It could (probably should) be even more emphatic than just two goals. Let’s tempt Fate, even though in the grand scheme of things BORO no doubt has greater things on the mind of its players and management, not to mention supporters. Bring it on….!
Post Script:
Boro lost at Blackburn 2-1 in the game played after the above was typed. For those who want the gory details Boro led with a goal by Sarmiento after 12 minutes but fell behind after goals from Gudjohnsen on 49 minutes and Cantwell on 55 minutes. Boro had 71% possession and 22 shots with 3 on target (compared to Blackburn with 6 and 5 respectively). However, as has been said before, the goals tally is all that counts. Interestingly those stats are mirrored in the game where Hull City with 29% possession beat Manchester United (72%) 2-0, with Hull taking only 8 shots of which 5 were on target (Man U’s figures being 21 and 5 respectively). Goals, not possession…
Doncaster Rovers played out a 0-0 draw at home to Barnsley and therefore has yet to post the first win of the league season. Will these results affect the Carabao Cup tie? Not really, apart from making Boro supporters a little fearful.
Forever Dormo 22nd August 2026.
Thanks Dormo, especially for doing this preview at relatively short notice.
Being honest I’ve limited interest in this game in itself but Boro could do with confidence and momentum after a stuttering start.
No injuries and a routine win might go a long way 🤞
Thanks Dormo for an extensive preview, after yesterday’s game I would prefer to see KH put the full team out again and use the opportunity to get them used to playing together, which was sadly lacking at Blackburn.
Come on BORO.
Thanks Dormo for your super starter. Yes, let's hope for a 2-0 win. I predected a similar score for Saturday's match at Blackburn. But we lost by 2 goals to one.
As the Cup match is not shown here by Viaplay, I am asking @Werdermouth if there could be any other links available.
I also believe BoroLive won't show the match either - the Wrexham match was not available but was shown by Viaplay.
Up the Boro!
That is a War and Peace of a Headliner, Dormo, full of information and a good read to boot on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Well, what does Mr Hellberg do, after three uninspiring games this season.
As exmil suggested, maybe play Saturdays starting eleven, given how some have played like strangers and that includes some of the stalwarts, yes Mr Brittain, Ayling, Malander, Morris, Sarmiento and Whittaker.
I have not included the new lads or fringe players, who also have not covered themselves in glory.
In reality, Jones needs minutes so we can hope when match fit he hits the same level as last season. We certainly need him at the moment. I would also include Brynn, otherwise his confidence will hit rock bottom.
Then there are the fringe players to date. Borges, someone at RB, do we actually have any cover? Kante, Castledine, Joseph possibly, Peat Harris. We then run out of players unless we dip into the younger squad of players. Cartwright maybe.
However, we need to win this game and that probably means playing most of Saturday’s first eleven, less Vitek and Whittaker, maybe one or two others.
We need to winnfor
@pedro - I certainly think the team needs to win the game. It should be possible to do that with several fringe players in the team but it would also be good to let the "First Team" get some confidence as a result of a good performance and a really good win. It's up to the manager how he resolves that issue. That's why he isn't paid just £300 per week.
It seems that all clubs are learning that Boro’s positional set up and playing style leaves them vulnerable to counter-attacks. Blackburn could have scored on a number of occasions in the first half. We need to dominate the midfield going both ways. I wonder if Hellberg will trial 3 at the back with wingbacks. The third centre back can push forward leaving the midfield duo free to hold or push forward themselves. It won’t make a great difference because we are so flexible in our positioning when in attack but we have to stop giving away chances.
I’d like to see Joseph and Lankshear up front and Whittaker on the bench. Other than that, there are a lot of people to choose from.
UTB