Preview: Doncaster Rovers vs Fleetwood Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Doncaster Rovers and Fleetwood Town will square off at the Eco-Power Stadium on Tuesday with an EFL Trophy quarter-final spot on the line.

Both sides suffered FA Cup defeats at the weekend and will battle to progress to the final eight of their last remaining cup competitions of the term.

Match preview

Doncaster Rovers return to EFL Trophy action on Tuesday aiming to end a dismal streak of form and continue a cup run.

The Yorkshire outfit advanced through the group stage of the competition with a perfect record, beating Bradford City, Grimsby Town and Everton Under-21s before meeting Chesterfield in the first knockout round.

Grant McCann's men would book a last-16 spot in style, dishing out a 5-1 beating in that contest in early December with Billy Sharp hitting a hat-trick alongside goals from Damola Ajayi and Jack Senior.

The Rovers followed that up with an FA Cup win over the same opposition but have since gone on to lose six of their last seven games and draw the other, dropping to 23rd spot in League One as a result.

Most recently on the back of a 3-2 FA Cup loss to Southampton on Saturday, having pulled two goals back through Matty Pearson and Jordan Gibson, Doncaster Rovers will be desperate to return to winning ways and advance on Tuesday.

Their visitors, meanwhile, head to the Eco-Power Stadium hoping to get past third-tier opposition and continue their own cup run.

Fleetwood Town finished the EFL Trophy group stage on seven points, having beaten Leeds United Under-21s 4-0 and took two points from draws and penalty shootout triumphs against Port Vale and Accrington Stanley.

Tranmere Rovers then stood in their way in early December, and Pete Wild's side cruised to a 3-0 victory, as Patrick Brough scored an own goal and Ronan Coughlan and Mark Helm put the game out of sight.

The Cod Army now also head into Tuesday's game in a winless run, firstly falling to 13th place in League Two with two losses and a draw before falling out of the FA Cup in a 1-0 defeat to Port Vale at the weekend, as Jordan Shipley scored the only goal.

Now facing their toughest test of the EFL Trophy run thus far, Fleetwood head to Yorkshire aiming to bounce back and book a quarter-final spot.

Doncaster Rovers EFL Trophy form:

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Doncaster Rovers form (all competitions):

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Fleetwood Town EFL Trophy form:

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Fleetwood Town form (all competitions):

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Team News

Doncaster Rovers head into Tuesday's game with a relatively clean bill of health, other than the ongoing absence of midfielder Ben Close.

Hakeeb Adelakun made his first appearance back with the Rovers in Saturday's FA Cup tie and should continue in the attack, while Billy Sharp will likely lead the line after his hat-trick in the previous round.

Elsewhere, Zander Clark, who arrived on loan from Hearts on Sunday, may earn a debut between the sticks.

Fleetwood Town continue to contend with an unenviable injury list, with James Bolton, Harrison Holgate, Denver Hume, Will Johnson, James Norwood and Liam Roberts all sidelined.

Shaun Rooney did return from his long layoff to feature in Saturday's FA Cup tie, though, and will hope to earn a first start since September, while forward Lewis McCann is a fresh concern after being forced off in the first half at the weekend.

Doncaster Rovers possible starting lineup:

Clark; Sterry, Pearson, Grehan, Senior; Bailey, Gotts; Molyneux, Gibson, Adelakun; Sharp

Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:

Harrington; Rooney, Haughey, Medley; Helm, Davies, Virtue, Hughes, Ennis; Evans, Davies

We say: Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Fleetwood Town

While Doncaster Rovers do head into their EFL Trophy tie in a slump, they can take a degree of optimism from a draw with Bolton and a 3-2 loss to Southampton in the last two games.

With home advantage on their side, we see Grant McCann's side still having the quality to scrape past a Fleetwood Town team badly hit by injuries.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.