Story of the game as Doncaster Rovers battle out a goalless draw against Lincoln City

OKAY, BUT DESPERATELY IN NEED OF MORE THREAT

Rovers were certainly better after the break and were much the more threatening side after the break. But again there were not a great deal of clear cut chances.

Overall, they’ve probably been the better side but they still look woefully short of threat. This one could easily be looked upon as a game where they left points on the table.

There were some decent performances in the side and it is a building block heading into a week on the road.

But they’ve got to be better, particularly in the opposition half.

5.01pm ALL OVER

90+4 min CLOSE

Joe Dodoo flicks a header narrowly wide of the top corner as Rovers threaten to grab the winner.

90+3 min SUBSTITUTION

Lirak Hasani replaces Rodrigo Vilca

4.55pm ADDED TIME

THREE minutes.

85 min PUSHING

Credit to Rovers, they’re going hard for this one after their small lull. Don’t want to jinx it but at this stage if one side is going to win it, it looks more likely to be Rovers.

82 min THE CHANCE THAT WOULD NOT COME

Joe Dodoo stabbed the ball across the box and it rolled past everyone until stopping at the feet of Tiago Cukur who just could not get his shot away seven yards out. A great opportunity lost.

80 min GOOD EFFORT

Aidan Barlow spun onto the ball from a throw in, cut inside and lashed a shot from the corner of the box which Lincoln keeper Josh Griffiths pushed over his crossbar.

76 min ZIP HAS GONE

The decent tempo Rovers produced at the start of the second half has diminished and there is a real danger of this game petering out.

71 min YELLOW CARD

Tom Anderson, Doncaster Rovers

69 min SUBSTITUTION

Tiago Cukur is on for Jon Taylor.

62 min BETTER

Rovers have been the better side so far in this half but they really need to make it count. It’s not manifesting itself in front of goal just yet but they’ve been a bit more vibrant.

59 min ANOTHER WIDE ONE

Pressure from Lincoln as they kept an attack alive really well and Rovers struggled to clear. It then fell to Conor McGrandles who curled well wide.

51 min WIDE

A half clearance from a free kick drops to Aidan Barlow who takes a touch and hacks at a shot, which goes comfortably wide.

50 min YELLOW CARD

Adam Jackson, Lincoln City

4.10pm BACK UNDERWAY

Aidan Barlow takes the kick-off and we’re underway again

HALF TIME SUBSTITUTION

Aidan Barlow replaces John Bostock, who was down injured for a while before the break

NOT GREAT

It’s been a competitive half of football without Rovers really threatening the Lincoln goal.

They’ve shown some decent movement in the opposition half but have yet to convert that into clear opportunities in front of goal. It all gets bogged down in the middle of the park and is increasingly uninspiring the longer it goes on.

Rovers have had the better of the ball but Lincoln have certainly looked the more threatening - though barring Louis Jones’ excellent save from Conor McGrandles, he has had little to do.

3.52pm THAT’S THE BREAK

3.48pm ADDED TIME

Two minutes

33 min WHAT A SAVE

It looked all the world that Lincoln were going to take the lead as Jamie Robson floated over a cross for Lincoln and Lasse Sorensen ran onto it with a powerful header. But Louis Jones reacted superbly to claw the ball off his line and away from danger. He’s not had a massive amount to do so far in this game but that was excellent from the academy graduate.

32 min WELL OVER

Chris Maguire struck a first time effort from 25 yards and put it into the south stand.

29 min COUPLE OF FREE KICKS

Rovers had a couple of bites of the cherry from free kicks, but neither threatened the Lincoln goal. First, Jon Taylor curled a shot into the wall, then Joe Dodoo did the same with a more driven effort.

27 min YELLOW CARD

Conor McGrandles, Lincoln City

23 min NEEDS MORE ZIP

The first quarter of this game has been a little bogged down in the middle of the park - certainly from a Rovers perspective.

They’ve moved the ball pretty well and the movement in the Lincoln half has been pretty good, with plenty of options. But they’ve struggled to get the ball into those options in advanced areas, which has meant a general lack of threat from Rovers.

Lincoln haven’t had as much of the ball but have looked dangerous, particularly in releasing N’Lundulu early or going down the right flank.

21 min WELL OVER

N’Lundulu got space again for Lincoln but curled his effort well over the bar from inside the box.

15 min REFRESHING

The presence of Jon Taylor has given Rovers a fresh dynamic they have not really had this season - the ability to curl a pass into space on the flanks and allow a player to run onto it. He’s done it a couple of times already and hopefully we’ll see more.

13 min LET OFF

Joseph Olowu looked to have everything covered as Lincoln attempted to release Dan N’Lundulu but scuffed his attempted backpass to Louis Jones, allowing the forward in. But N’Lundulu completely sliced his attempt to put the ball beyond Jones and put the ball out of play.

8 min DRIVING RUN FORWARD

And it came from the surprising figure of Tom Anderson, who spotted the space in front of him and powered from inside his own half to the corner of the box and drilled over a cross which was just too high for Tommy Rowe.

5 min FIRST ATTEMPT

Rovers get their first attempt on goal as Kyle Knoyle rescues a short pass from Rodrigo Vilca and quickly fires a shot on goal from 25 yards which Lincoln keeper Josh Griffiths saves comfortably.

2 min WIDE

Early pressure from Lincoln who won a corner. It was half cleared by Branden Horton, who then could only get a tame header from his follow-up with the ball dropping to Anthony Scully who hooked wide first time.

3.02pm UNDERWAY

Chris Maguire takes the kick-off for Lincoln

TEAMS OUT

And there is a minute’s applause for former Rovers striker Laurie Sheffield, who passed away earlier this month

THE TEAM IS IN

And the big news is two-fold: No Pontus Dahlberg and the return of Jon Taylor from the start.

Not entirely sure at this stage why Dahlberg misses out today but understand he’s been managing an issue for a while. The fact he carried out pre-match press duties suggests he was expected to play, but he misses out with Louis Jones coming in between the sticks while Ben Bottomley is on the bench.

Taylor starts his first game since March, which is somewhat surprising but suggests a level of confidence in his fitness.

There are four changes in total with the suspended Matt Smith missing out, along with the injured Jordy Hiwula while Tiago Cukur drops to the bench.

Coming into the side along with Taylor and Jones are Branden Horton and Rodrigo Vilca.

Young defender Bobbie Faulkner is on the bench, the day after signing his first professional deal with the club.

AND THE VISITORS