Doncaster Rovers relish big games against fellow promotion-chasers

Two clashes against fellow promotion-chasing outfits await this week, starting with a trip to third-placed Carlisle United tomorrow night.

With fourth placed Luton Town set to visit the Keepmoat on Saturday, the next five days could go a long way towards pushing Rovers over the finishing line in their bid for automatic promotion.

But Butler remained level-headed when looking ahead to the games.

“Let’s see how it goes,” he told The Star.

“We take every game as it comes. We want to win every game, obviously.

“As long as we prepare right, we’ll be fine.”

“We’ll roll onto the next game against Carlisle and then Luton after that.

“It’s a big week but one we’re relishing.”

Rovers were held to a goalless draw at bottom side Newport County on Friday night but remain 14 points clear of fourth spot heading into tomorrow night’s full programme of League Two fixtures.

A difficult pitch and a physically robust opposition made for a difficult night in South Wales for Rovers.

But Butler said they could take plenty of heart from the battling performance.

“You look at the midfield and we had three young uns in Conor Grant, Jordan Houghton and Niall Mason,” he said.

“They’ve all come from Premier League backgrounds but you wouldn’t have thought it there.

“It looked like they’d been brought up on the streets.

“They were kicking and heading. Niall’s missing a tooth nearly and he got a bump on his face where Joe Wright kicked him in the head.

“Everyone else played their part so it was a great team performance.

“It just shows the solidarity we’ve got in this team.

“Everyone is willing to put that shift in.”

James Coppinger is expected to return to the side to face Carlisle having been rested at Newport due to an on-going heel problem.

Mathieu Baudry faces a race to be fit.