Doncaster Rovers' cult hero on his FA Cup moment of magic, Hull City test and promotion advice

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when it started to drop down the relevancy ladder for most clubs, but even now it feels like the FA and its partnering broadcast companies are intent on finding new ways to alienate fans and reduce its pull factor.

Feelings of warmth towards the competition seem to be decreasing year on year, not helped by games being moved to Thursday nights or the scrapping of replays. But sprinklings of magic can still be found in the famous old pot. For many players, these isolated moments can still bring joy long after they have retired.

Case in point for Jason Price. The Doncaster Rovers cult hero had a fine career in South Yorkshire, enjoying three years at the club during halcyon days which took in promotion to the Championship, a Football League Trophy win and the successful transfer from Belle Vue to the new stadium. But it's a goal against Aston Villa in an FA Cup fourth round replay in early 2009 for which many Rovers fans remember him - and a moment in time he regularly and happily harps back to.

"I couldn't hit a barn door at the time and that was my first goal of the season, and that was in January." Price tells the Free Press.

"We a had good hold on the game against Villa and could have actually come out of it with a result. The weight had been lifted off my shoulders with that goal. I remember it well."

Whilst it proved to be a memorable moment on a personal level for Price, Rovers ultimately lost 3-1 to the Premier League side. The strike, set up by James Coppinger, proved to be Price's final meaningful act in red-and-white. "Literally a week or two later I was sent to Millwall!" the Welshman quipped.

The FA Cup comes back into focus for Rovers this Sunday when they face another of Price's former clubs, Hull City, in the third round. Normally a weekend in the calendar that is ring-marked by fans up and down the country, the aforementioned scheduling mess-about has ensured some of the appeal has gone. Granted, a team sitting 22nd in the Championship hosting a side seventh in League Two hardly whets the appetite for the neutral. Even less so when the match is shifted to midday on a Sunday.

But Price believes it provides the chance for Grant McCann's men to give their season a much-needed shot in the arm. And a win against the Tigers could potentially set up a mouth-watering tie in the next round, allowing one of the current Rovers crop the chance to emulate Price's exploits all those years ago.

"Hull will be going into it as favourites but Rovers have got nothing to lose," Price says. “If Billy Sharp is playing then you always have a chance. If they keep it tight at the back, keep Hull's chances to a minimum and as I say, Billy is always going to come up with a goal so you never know - but I'm going to sit on the fence!"

Of course, the over-riding aim for Rovers this term is promotion. It's been that ever since the gut-wrenching play-off defeat to Crewe spelled the abrupt end of a campaign they wished had gone on for just one more match.

Rovers are bunched among a bloated promotion picture in League Two and on that front, Price can offer sage advice. His words carry a fair bit of clout given that he got promoted four times in his career including with Rovers in 2008.

"Round pegs, round holes," he replies when asked what was the recipe to success.

"We all knew what the other players were good at, and bad at. It was also about pockets of three, with partnerships on the pitch. It just worked.

"You need people to get on aswell. No big-time Charlies. If you get those, you'll struggle because their ego can spill over.

"At Donny, we were on that training ground, walking through things. It was only later on in my career that it clicked as to why we spent so much time doing it. It was to know exactly what strengths and weaknesses we all had. I've been in a few teams that have been successful and the key, as I say, is round pegs in round holes."