Doncaster Rovers hope to keep up with teams above them as they face Northampton Town at the Keepmoat Stadium

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Andy Butler’s men will be looking to get some consistent form under their belt as they face relegation-battling Northampton Town this weekend.

Keyman Ben Whiteman departed the club in January, with Rovers feeling the affect of his move to Championship side Preston North End.

They were able to start the year with a bang and go on a fantastic unbeaten run which spanned five league matches. But a torrid February saw them slip off the pace gaining four points out of a possible 18.

Doncaster were able to make a good start to March with two 2-1 victories against Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle.

Last time out though they were struck back down to earth as a resolute Crewe Alexandra side were able to bounce back from their heavy 3-0 defeat against Lincoln City. Mikael Mandron’s goal in the 56th minute meant that Doncaster failed to register a third consecutive victory.

The Rovers do bode two games in hand on Peterborough United, Lincoln and Sunderland who occupy places from second to fourth and have four games in hand on league leaders Hull City.

With the departure of Darren Moore to Sheffield Wednesday, this will be the perfect stage for Andy Butler to prove that he is worthy of delivering a good promotion/Play-Off battling campaign.

Northampton Town are also notably without a manager as Keith Curle moved on and now manages Oldham Athletic with interim manager Jon Brady in charge.

Funny enough the Cobblers also recorded a winning start to March by beating Plymouth 2-0 and then blowing away Portsmouth 4-1.

In their last league outing, they faced Play-Off chasing Charlton Athletic at the Valley as Brady’s men looked to make it three consecutive wins in League One for the first time this campaign.

The Cobblers created very little and only had two shots all match with the Addicks getting ahead in the 65th minute through Conor Washington’s converted penalty.

Washington added his second of the game in the 84th minute as the hosts ran away victorious even when Alex Jones scored a late consolation for Northampton in the third minute of added time.

In the reverse fixture at the PTS Academy Stadium, Doncaster were victorious as they won their first league match of the season which kick-started a four-game winning run.

Shaun Mcwilliams’ red card in the 18th minute set up the hosts for the worst as they played most of the match with ten men.

Tyreece John-Jules scored in the 36th minute with Joe Wright doubling Rovers’ lead in the 57th minute as Moore’s men gained a vital three away points.

Northampton have not beaten Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium in the 21st Century, and you’d have to go back to November 1996 to see the Cobblers beat the Rovers in Doncaster.

The Cobblers have only won five times at the home of the Rovers in the all-time head-to-head and will want to gain their sixth victory, but that will not be made easy as Doncaster look to close the gap on the top four with a vital victory.

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