By Albatross
August 12 2005

Hartlepool United's second away trip is a lot closer than the first: Doncaster Rovers must be one of our closest trips of the season! Rain is forecast so travelling fans are advised to take a raincoat to Belle Vue - but can the team shine even if the weather doesn't? Doncaster looked not far away from challenging for the top when we played them last season, and with a number of promising signings coming in over the summer hopes are high of challenging at the top end. Possibly a little like Pools though, there are signs that it may take a little while for the squad to settle down after the new arrivals.

A 0-0 draw at Bristol City was an encouraging start, with the much-vaunted City Strikeforce shut out; however in midweek their first home game could only see them draw with MK Franchise despite being much the better side. Paul Heffernan got off the mark though, and he will be one of the main dangers to Pools; meanwhile the Rovers fans are looking to Sean Thornton - another player signed for a six figure sum over the close season - to run things in midfield. The former Sunderland player played a number of games in the division above last season, and is expected to be a real star at this level.

Pools meanwhile have just one point, but the signs were promising at Bournemouth. Possibly the big question concerns Adam Boyd: will he start the match? He will undoubtedly not be pleased at being dropped - no player is - and a lot will depend on how he responds to Scott's decision. However Daly and Proctor did pretty well on the South Coast and it would seem harsh to drop one or the other. Overall though I won't be surprised if there are no changes to the starting eleven, meaning Boyd will have to wait for his chance from the bench.

Pools haven't reported any new injury problems, and once again it seems that the game is coming too early for the likes of Tinkler, Barron and Porter. Pools however have added to the squad: Neill Collins has arrived on loan from Sunderland in time to be considered although whether Scott will prefer to give him a little time to get to know his team-mates before throwing him in remains to be seen. Other than that, he can pick from the same players as for our first two games.

This could well prove something of an acid test for the Pools midfield. Doncaster showed last year that they're a side that like to pass it around a bit, and murdered us down the flanks in the equivalent game last season. It's going to need a lot of hard work by the whole midfield to make sure the defence isn't left exposed against a side that look to have the tools to make the most of any weaknesses.

Prediction time, and I'm going for another draw, 1-1 with Daly scoring. I'd happily settle for a point from this game, anything more would be a sign that we really should end up as contenders for the top this season.