Wham Stadium hosts Accrington Stanley and Doncaster this Saturday in a big weekend of League Two football. Accrington will be looking for a win to continue their push for a potential spot in the Play-offs, whereas Doncaster will aim to look to put more space between them and the relegation zone.
Accrington Stanley currently sit ninth in League Two after 20 games. Accrington have nine wins, two draws and nine losses, leaving them on 29 points, just seven points behind the last Play-off place, but with teams between them having a game in hand.
In their last five games in all competitions, Accrington have one win and four losses. In the FA Cup First round Replay of this very fixture, Joe Pritchard opened the scoring for Stanley, but that was the peak of the game for them. Zain Westbrooke equalised for Doncaster in the second half and Joe Ironside won it in extra time. However, back in League Two, Stanley took a big win against Wrexham. A Tommy Leigh penalty and a goal from Rosaire Longelo gave Stanley the 2 - 0 win over Wrexham.
In the Football League Trophy, Stanley hosted Nottingham Forest’s U21 team. Jack Ethan Thompson and Julian Larsson gave Nottingham Forest an early 2 - 0 lead. Korede Adedoyin did get Stanley on the scoresheet, but Nottingham Forest held on for the 2 - 1 win. Tyler Smith scored the only goal of the game in the second half for a 1 - 0 win for Bradford City.
The last time out for Stanley was against Swindon Town. Despite a late push from Stanley with Adedoyin scoring in the 92nd minute and a brace from Bradley Hills in the 97th and 100th minute, Swindon held on for a 4 - 3 win.
Doncaster, on the other hand, sit 17th in League Two. In 19 games, Doncaster have seven wins, two draws and ten losses which leaves them on 23 points, five points above the relegation zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Doncaster have three wins and two losses. The first win was the Replay win over Accrington Stanley, with Westbrooke and Ironside grabbing the extra time win and the spot in the next round. Modou Faal gave Doncaster the early lead, but Luke Offord and Connor O’Riordan managed to give Crewe the 2 - 1 lead going into halftime. Ironside equalised in the second half but a 92nd minute goal from O’Riordan gave Crewe the 3 - 2 win.
Doncaster bounced back against Colchester. James Maxwell, Faal and Ironside all scored in the 3 - 1 win for Doncaster, with Joe Taylor on the scoresheet for Colchester. The Second round of the FA Cup saw Doncaster visit Peterborough. Harrison Burrows and Ephron Mason-Clarke gave Peterborough the 2 - 0 lead, and Faal’s goal was not enough as Peterborough won 2 - 1.
The most recent outing for Doncaster was against Nottingham Forest’s U21 team in the Football League Trophy. Luke Molyneux, Kyle Hurst and Ironside all scored in the 3 - 0 win for Doncaster.
Accrington Stanley and Doncaster have met just 13 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming as recently as 2006. Accrington have a far better record in the fixture with seven wins in comparison to Doncaster’s three wins, with a draw just as common as a Doncaster win, happening on three occasions.