Doncaster Rovers: 'They'll be confident' - Darren Moore on the challenge of Leicester City U21s in Leasing.com Trophy

The young Foxes side arrive at the Keepmoat on Wednesday night having gone unbeaten in the competition with two wins from three in the group stage plus a bonus point triumph on penalties after a draw with Grimsby Town.

And Moore says Rovers can expect an opposition determined to continue powering through the competition.

“It’s going to be a great game, a wonderful game with two teams that want to play football,” he said.

“They won their group so they will be strong, they’ll be confident.

“They’ll be looking forward to the game as we will be.

“They’re a good group. People think they’re a young group but they’re an old group relatively because they’ve got a lot of players in there that are in their 20s.

“In our current team we’ve got players at 18 and 19. It goes to show that even though they’re an U23 group they have some experience that have had league loan opportunities.

“For him, this competition you can see the seriousness in which they have taken it.

“They did well at Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Sunderland – lower league opposition they have come through and I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to playing us.”

Leicester U21s are managed by former Rovers boss Steve Beaglehole, who was at Belle Vue when Moore signed as a player in 1995.

The highly-successful youth coach – who guided Rovers to the FA Youth Cup final and has enjoyed time with Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Northern Ireland since – is someone Moore holds a great deal of respect for.

“Steve Beaglehole, I think he’s done a remarkable job with them and they’ve had wonderful consistency,” Moore said.

“He’s someone that knows the game.

“He still lives here in Doncaster and I look forward to seeing him here. He’ll have his family here and I’ll welcome them all to the Keepmoat.

“It's a proud moment for Steve to be manager of these Leicester U23s.

“For me, I loved working alongside him.

“We kept in touch since I was a player here, all over the years, which says a lot about him as a man.

“He’s been at Leicester for years and he’s seen a lot of players come through and develop.

“He’s someone that knows the game, at senior level and at academy and youth level.

“What I make of him is that he’s a fantastic man first and foremost and he’s someone that is astute and knows the game and what he wants from it.”