Doncaster Rovers camp reacts to 'strange' kick-off slot against Chesterfield in FA Cup

Rovers make the short trip to Chesterfield in the second round of the FA Cup - a game that has been moved to the graveyard slot of a 7.30pm kick-off to accommodate live TV coverage on TNT Sports. It is just the latest odd timeslot that Rovers have found themselves in. Last season they played a league game on a Thursday night and had FA Cup ties at noon on a Sunday as well as a Monday night.

"I don't think I've ever played at that time on a Saturday in my life!" admitted the Rovers skipper ahead of a second consecutive meeting against the Spireites, after Tuesday's thumping EFL Trophy success. "It's strange but I think probably more so for the fans.

"I love playing night games. There seems to be more atmosphere. It doesn't change much for what we, as players, do although the preparation might be just slightly different in terms of having pre-match a bit later and waiting around for the game."

Rovers manager Grant McCann also understands why some supporters may be scratching their heads at having to play at such an inconvenient time: "I can see why they're not happy. There's no point in me saying I'm happy with (it being) 7.30pm on a Saturday night.

"It is what it is. It's the TV, we can't do anything about it. The rules are the rules. Sometimes it means you have to play on a day or time when you don't want to play at. Ideally for me it's a Saturday 3pm game. And I'm sure Paul Cook would say the same, as we both play again on the Tuesday night.

"I'm sure our fans will still fill the away end as they do every game we play and hopefully we can get them into the next round."

Skipper Bailey notched his first-ever goal in the world's oldest cup competition when he scored the winner in the last round away at Crewe. That helped settle a score with his brother Ryan, a semi-professional player, who used to tease him about having not scored in the FA Cup until that point.

"I went to watch my brother in the preliminary rounds and he scored an unbelievable goal," Owen said. "I'd never scored in the FA Cup so to get that goal at Crewe and equal his tally was great! He stills shows us the goal on Youtube, though!

"I love the FA Cup. From a young age it was drummed into me the importance of it. I feel it's almost come full circle now. It lost its way a little bit when the big teams were putting out weakened sides but I think now it's been valued again for what it is. It's a massive honour.

"I've played in it as a non-league player and you just want to progress and face the big boys. It's no different for us - we just come into it a bit later."