Carlisle United v Doncaster Rovers: Points mean prizes is Darren Ferguson's continued mantra

Points mean prizes.
Darren FergusonDarren Ferguson
Darren Ferguson

That’s the continued mantra from Doncaster Rovers boss Darren Ferguson ahead of two promotion ‘six-pointers’.

The League Two leaders travel to third-placed Carlisle United tonight before hosting Luton Town, who are fourth and currently 14 points adrift of Rovers, on Saturday.

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“With 16 games to go it’s a healthy gap but it can be reduced very quickly,” said Ferguson. “So we’ve just got to make sure we maintain our standards, be consistent and keep picking up points.

“I would guard against setting targets or changing anything.

“The players understand that in each game that comes we’ve got to try and pick up points. At the moment we’re doing that.

“We’ve come out of a very good month.

“People may look at February and think we’ve dropped some points but you’re always going to drop points. There’s no getting away from that.

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“What we did in January was give ourselves a really healthy points total. Now we’ve got to make sure that we keep picking up points - wins obviously if we can.

“I’m not focusing too much on Plymouth who are only just behind us. My main focus is on the points total and it always has been.

“We’ve got the team in third and then the team in fourth. Big, big games.

“If you beat Carlisle you’re 14 ahead of them with 15 to go. That’s how we’re looking at it. That’s the motivation - win the game in front of you and it puts you in an even healthier position.”

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James Coppinger, who has been playing with a slight heel issue in recent weeks, is likely to return to the starting line-up tonight after being left out at Newport as a precaution.

Ferguson said Mathieu Baudry has a “slight chance” of featuring, but Liam Mandeville remains sidelined.