Doncaster Rovers v Port Vale: Grant McCann not underestimating bottom side ahead of DN4 visit

The original game was meant to be played in mid-February but had to be shelved owing to the Valiants' continued participation in the FA Cup. Vale saw off Premier League side Sunderland earlier this month to book a quarter-final tie away at Chelsea on Easter Saturday.

Their terrific form in the cup is in stark contrast to their League One struggles. They're currently bottom of the pile on 31 points - 11 adrift of safety, albeit with as many as three games in hand on the rest of their drop rivals. Despite that bleak outlook, they gave themselves a shot in the arm last weekend with an eye-catching 1-0 win over promotion-chasers Bolton.

Whilst Rovers are heavy favourites for the meeting in South Yorkshire, manager Grant McCann isn't underestimating Jon Brady's side.

"We're playing against a Port Vale team who are fighting for their lives and are fighting strong for Jon, by the way," McCann told the Free Press.

"They've had a really good result (against Bolton), a big result. So it'll be a tough game, a really tough game. Jon's done brilliant since he went in there. He really has. They're into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup (against Chelsea) and they're picking up some good points in the league so it's another tough game."

Rovers head into the contest off the back of a morale-boosting derby win away at Barnsley. That result takes their unbeaten run to four and McCann wants a strong showing on Tuesday before a ten-day break - enforced by the postponement of the Lincoln City game.

"I actually said to the boys we've got two big games – Barnsley and then Port Vale," he added. "They’re games where we need to push before we can give them a bit of a breather. And when I say a breather, we've got a couple of days maximum (off) and then we'll get back into it."

Rovers could again be without Luke Molyneux (hamstring) and Billy Sharp (calf) for Tuesday’s match after both missed out against Barnsley.