'I'm running away from it' - Doncaster Rovers boss on the prospect of playing four games in a week

Darren Moore does not even want to consider the prospect of Doncaster Rovers having to play four games in the span of a week.
A member of the Blackpool groundstaff attempts to clear water off the pitch at Bloomfield Road ahead of the clash with RoversA member of the Blackpool groundstaff attempts to clear water off the pitch at Bloomfield Road ahead of the clash with Rovers
A member of the Blackpool groundstaff attempts to clear water off the pitch at Bloomfield Road ahead of the clash with Rovers

Rovers’ fixture schedule is at breaking point following the postponement of the midweek trip to Blackpool.

Their scheduled hosts do not have a blank midweek until the final week of the season, other than around the Easter period, having been blighted by plenty of cancellations of their own.

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With only one extra week without a midweek fixture themselves, Rovers can ill-afford further postponements or will face the threat of playing four matches inside a week.

“That would be extremely tough and I wouldn’t even want to venture down that road,” Moore said.

“Without a doubt. I’m running away from it.

“It’s not been confirmed yet but we have got a date in mind for the Blackpool game that doesn’t let us go into having that number of fixtures in the week.

“We’ve got a couple of weeks to house the game and we’ll be putting those options to the EFL.

“It will just keep the same continuity of a midweek game.”

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A raft of international call-ups could force Rovers into a decision over whether to postpone their trip to MK Dons on March 27.

Moore says it would depend on which players received calls before deciding whether to push back the fixture.

But he is also hopeful that international managers will be mindful of who they call-up, with domestic demands at unprecedented levels.

“We know there’s still a lot of football to be played between now and then,” he said.

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“I think on the international scene, I think the managers would understand if they were calling them up they should be calling them up to play.

“I don’t think any international managers would want to call up players to just be sitting in squads and not being involved when their counterparts in League One and Two would potentially be put in a position of having to play games to make sure fixtures are fulfilled but also risking the result because the best players aren’t on the pitch.”

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