Doncaster Rovers will look to put their league struggles aside on Tuesday night as they face Huddersfield Town in the quarterfinal of the Vertu Trophy.
Rovers come into the game after being thrashed 4-0 by Wycombe, in a game which they didn’t register an effort on target.
The South Yorkshire side sit outside the League 1 drop zone by one point and are hoping the Vertu Trophy can be a welcome distraction from Saturdays game.
Huddersfield on the flip side come into the game after a 2-2 draw at home vs Blackpool, in a game where they were 0-2 down.
The draw lifted The Terriers above their rivals Bradford into 5th, on goal difference.
Doncaster Rovers are the top scorers in the Vertu Trophy this season, with 16 after topping their group with three wins and eight goals.
A resounding 5-1 win vs Chesterfield coupled with a 3-1 triumph vs Fleetwood Town have seen the 2007 winners into the last eight of the competition.
Billy Sharp is joint top scorer in the competition this season, with five goals in two games, averaging a goal every 36 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Terriers came second in their group behind Harrogate Town on six points.
A 0-2 win away at Lincoln City in the round of 32 and a convincing 3-0 victory vs Rotherham United in the last 16 has catapulted The Terriers into the last eight.
It is a chance for Huddersfield to take a step closer to history themselves, as they have never won the competition in their 117 year history.
Rovers assistant Cliff Byrne praised new Terriers boss Liam Manning and his style ahead of the fixture:
”They’ve got some really good players, they’ve got a good way of playing, they’ll be organised and we know they carry threats on the pitch so we’ll be wary of that.”
”He’s an experienced manager, they’ll have various ways they can play, various tweaks based on how they think we’ll play as well.”
‘What I do know is that they are a very good group of players and a very good football club.”
Doncaster and Huddersfield met at the start of the season at the Accu Stadium, with two late second half goals from substitutes Ben Wiles and Joe Taylor giving Huddersfield a 2-0 win.
Additionally, the two sides have met in this competition before, in the 2023/24 season, with Rovers emerging with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Ephraim Yeboah and Joe Ironside.
The two will locks horns again in League One action on February 17 at the Eco-Power Stadium, with both of them fighting for different causes at opposite ends of the table.
