Doncaster Rovers ‘still aiming for automatic promotion’ – Ali Crawford

Rovers return to league action at neighbours Scunthorpe United on Saturday (1pm) after their FA Cup adventure was brought to an end by Crystal Palace last weekend. 

Crawford says Rovers now have ‘15 cup finals’ as they set their sights on promotion to the Championship.

Grant McCann’s side currently lie sixth in the League One table, 13 points adrift of second-placed Barnsley but with two games in hand. The Tykes visit the Keepmoat Stadium next month.

“Obviously it wasn’t the result that we wanted against Palace but that’s over and done with now,” said Crawford.

“We’ve got 15 cup finals left in the league to try and get ourselves promoted up into the Championship.

“We’ve got a realistic chance of making the play-offs at least.

“We’ve got two games in hand so if we win them it puts us right in the mix for challenging for second place.

“If we want to get automatic promotion we need to win near enough all of our remaining games.

“Our full focus is on Saturday which is a local derby so there’s no need for any extra motivation going into the game.

“If we play the way we did in the two games previous to the FA Cup tie [against Peterborough and Southend] we’ll have a good chance of coming away with three points.”

Rovers have already won at Glanford Park in the Carabao Cup this season and eased to a 3-0 win over Scunthorpe in the reverse fixture at the Keepmoat in December.

The Iron have since eased their relegation fears by winning six of their last nine league games.

“Stuart McCall’s went in there and done a good job,” said Crawford.

“When we played them last time they were near the bottom of the league and now they’re mid-table, so they have been doing well.

“We know it’ll be tougher than the game here just before Christmas.

“Our concentration needs to be bang on.”