Preview: Doncaster Rovers vs Peterborough United - prediction, team news, lineups

Separated by just three points at the bottom end of the League One table, Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United will square off at the Eco-Power Stadium on Saturday.

An upturn in form has seen the visitors move within a point of safety, while their hosts have dropped to 19th spot in the midst of a poor run of form.

Match preview

Doncaster Rovers head into the weekend aiming to end a winless run and slide towards League One's relegation spots.

After winning promotion from League Two last time around, the Yorkshire outfit enjoyed a strong start to life back in England's third tier, earning 16 points from their first seven games, but they have since added just three more to that tally in 10 further attempts.

In those 10 league outings, Grant McCann's side have managed three draws alongside seven losses, only scoring six goals along the way while conceding 18.

On the back of 2-1 losses to Barnsley and Lincoln City in mid-November, separated by an EFL Trophy win over Bradford City, the Rovers visited league leaders Stevenage on Saturday and were able to, at least, pick up a creditable point as the contest ended goalless.

Now sitting 19th in League One and just three points above Saturday's visitors in the drop zone, Doncaster Rovers will hope to take the positives from last week's stalemate and record a first third-tier victory since early September to climb away from the bottom four.

Their opponents, meanwhile, head to South Yorkshire in search of their own return to winning ways to leapfrog Saturday's hosts.

After a poor start to the League One season left them adrift in the relegation zone on 10 points from 13 matches, Peterborough United opted to replace Darren Ferguson with Luke Williams in late October.

The new boss has overseen a notable improvement for the Posh, as, alongside cup triumphs over Cardiff City and Crawley Town, his first two league games at the helm ended in 5-0 and 3-0 home beatings over AFC Wimbledon and Stockport County respectively.

After the latter last Thursday, with Ben Woods, Kyrell Lisbie and Brandon Khela on the scoresheet, Williams saw his perfect start to life at the helm ended on Tuesday, as they hosted Stevenage and succumbed to a 1-0 defeat with Jamie Reid netting the only goal.

Still with plenty of optimism in their new era thanks to a fast start, Peterborough United now sit 21st, only trailing 20th-placed Exeter City by one point and Doncaster by three.

The away side now head into their first League One away game since mid-October with the hopes of escaping the bottom four.

Doncaster Rovers League One form:

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Doncaster Rovers form (all competitions):

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Peterborough United League One form:

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Peterborough United form (all competitions):

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Team News

Doncaster Rovers may be unchanged from their draw against Stevenage last week, with Matty Pearson and Toyosi Olusanya set to miss out again.

Brandon Hanlan and Billy Sharp will compete to lead the line, while Jordan Gibson, Harry Clifton and Luke Molyneux should continue in support despite competition from Glenn Middleton.

Owen Bailey and George Broadbent are key men in midfield, while Connor O'Riordan and Jay McGrath will again partner up at the back after a rare clean sheet last time out.

Peterborough United continue to deal with several injury issues, with Rio Adebisi, Cian Hayes, Sam Hughes, George Nevett and Jacob Mendy remaining sidelined.

Harry Leonard should again get the nod over Gustav Lindgren to lead the line, with Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Kyrell Lisbie bound to continue in support having each netted five goals so far this season.

Abraham Odoh should complete the attacking line in their 4-2-3-1 setup, while Archie Collins and Ben Woods will likely partner up again in midfield despite competition from Brandon Khela.

Doncaster Rovers possible starting lineup:

Lo-Tutala; Sterry, McGrath, O'Riordan, Maxwell; Broadbent, Bailey; Molyneux, Clifton, Gibson; Hanlan

Peterborough United possible starting lineup:

Bass; Kioso, Lees, O'Connor, Mills; Woods, Collins; Odoh, Morgan, Lisbie; Leonard

We say: Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Peterborough United

Peterborough United suffered their first setback under Luke Williams in midweek, but the Posh are much-improved and starting to make their quality count.

Although Doncaster Rovers' result last weekend was more encouraging, they are still low on confidence and struggling for league victories, and we back Peterborough to bounce back and escape the bottom four on Saturday.

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