Doncaster Rovers notebook: Academy appointment, fixture change and TLT return


Academy latest
Rovers' under-18s continue to have a tough time of it. Last weekend saw them suffer a chastening 6-2 defeat away at Bolton Wanderers. The week prior they fell to a 7-2 loss at Harrogate. Paul Green's side will look to earn a first win since September when they host Bradford on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Greg Carroll has been reflecting on his new role after being named Head of Academy Player Care. Speaking to the club's matchday programme, the former Rovers youth product says he is able to relate to the current cohort and that it comes in especially handy during difficult conversations.
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Hide AdHe said: "Release meetings are definitely the hardest part of the job. But what I feel like I can bring to that role is that I actually came through the academy myself and got released just before getting a scholarship.
"That was over 20 years ago and there was no aftercare or support at the time so it's something I'm really passionate about.
"We want to make sure players who leave us have got that aftercare, got that support and that we find an alternative route for them. That's something I take a lot of pride in because I'm not just passionate about helping these boys while they're here at the club, but with their futures too."
Crowd figure
Saturday's attendance against Notts County was just shy of the 11,000 mark. The official figure of 10,988 is the highest gate for a regular league game in DN4 in more than two-and-a-half years. You have to go way back to February 2022 for the meeting with South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday, when 11,217 turned up for a League One derby.
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Hide AdGrant McCann certainly appreciated the support against Notts, saying post-match: "It felt like a proper game today didn't it? Two good teams, two sets of fans singing. It's a massive well done and thank you to the fans for coming out."
Loanee returns - sort of
One of the many in attendance last Saturday was former loanee Thimothee Lo-Tutala. The Hull City stopper enjoyed a superb stint at Rovers for the second half of last season, playing a major role in helping the club qualify for the play-offs.
After a summer of speculation, he ended up signing a contract extension with his parent club. That being said, he's been out injured and has yet to feature at all this campaign. With Hull not playing last Saturday, TLT took a watching brief of his old club.
Fixture change
It might have flown under the radar last week, but the re-scheduling of the FA Cup trip to Kettering, owing to live BBC coverage, has had a knock-on effect for one of Rovers' league commitments. The trip to Fleetwood was originally pencilled in for Tuesday, December 3. With the Kettering game now being staged on the Sunday (December 1), it means Rovers' match against Charlie Adam's side has been moved to Wednesday, December 4 (7.45pm).
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