Owen Bailey says extended Plymouth break can allow Doncaster Rovers to press reset button

Rovers missed out on a Wembley final after their below-par showing in the EFL Trophy semi-final loss to Stockport last Tuesday night. Bailey started that game on the bench as manager Grant McCann made a raft of changes for the tie. But Bailey, along with three others, was summoned at half-time and although the team performed better after the restart they couldn’t muster an equaliser and so exited the competition.

That means their sole focus is now on League One and preserving their third tier status with 13 games remaining. The first of those assignments is the longest away journey of the season down to face the Pilgrims on Saturday. Skipper Bailey, his colleagues and the coaching staff travelled down south on Thursday to deal with the logistical difficulties that the trip provides.

With a glut of games upcoming - the Home Park game is the first of seven with a 22-day period - the 27-year-old hopes that the journey down to Devon, and the extended time the players will spend together, can be used to good effect.

"The focus moves on to the next game quite quickly," he said. "We'll travel down there (Thursday) which gives us a bit of time together to make sure we're all fighting in the same direction. I think it's important now that we've just got the league to focus on now, for these last 13 games.

"The chance (for Wembley) has gone now and you can't rewind the clock. But we've got a good group and we'll come back together and have a long trip ahead now and we don't want to come back with nothing. We'll give it our all and make sure we're best prepared as possible."

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MATCH PREVIEW

Plymouth Argyle v Doncaster Rovers, Saturday, 3pm

One to watch

Bim Pepple - In the absence of top scorer Lorent Tolaj - who terrorised Rovers in the reverse game last December - Pepple is probably the one for Grant McCann's side to keep a keen eye on. Pepple has 11 goals in all competitions this season with five in his last six and is likely to lead the line this weekend.

Form guide

Rovers: LWLWWL

Plymouth: LLWWWL

The Pilgrims have lost their last two games, a narrow 1-0 league defeat to Rotherham and, before that, a 2-1 loss to Luton which dumped them out of the EFL Trophy.

R e cent meetings

December 2025 - Rovers 1-5 Plymouth

January 2022 - Rovers 1-3 Plymouth

September 2021 - Plymouth 2-1 Rovers

March 2021 - Rovers 2-1 Plymouth

October 2020 - Plymouth 2-1 Rovers

Rovers' last win away at Home Park was way back in 2018.

Last clash

December 2025 - Rovers 1-5 Plymouth

A sobering day at the office for Rovers, who were well and truly put to the sword on home soil just before Christmas.

They actually took the lead through an early Brandon Hanlan goal but then collapsed and conceded three goals in the space of 12 first half minutes. Two more goals would follow in the second half with the aforementioned Tolaj the star of the show, hitting a hat-trick that day.

Opposition boss

Tom Cleverley – The 36-year-old is in his second gig as a manager, having previously been in charge of Watford for a 14-month period.

He arrived at Home Park in June 2025, signing a three-year deal. He was under pressure in the early part of the campaign after a below-par start but has since steadied the ship with Argyle firmly in mid-table and closer to the play-offs than they are the relegation places.

Odds

Skybet rate the hosts as favourites, with Plymouth 10/11 to get all three points. Rovers are chalked up at 21/10 for an away win, whilst the draw is priced at 5/2.