Updates on Tom Anderson, James Coppinger and Josh Sims as Doncaster Rovers gear up for Accrington Stanley clash

Tom Anderson is on course to be available for action for Doncaster Rovers this weekend, as he continues to follow the Football Association’s concussion protocol.
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The Rovers skipper suffered a heavy blow to his head in collision with goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe during last week’s defeat at Fleetwood Town.

After resting up, Anderson is reporting no ill-effects and has commenced light training in alignment with the protocol.

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Should he show no further symptoms as he moves through each step of the guidelines, he would be available for Saturday’s clash with Hull City, though he will miss Wednesday’s visit of Accrington Stanley to the Keepmoat.

Tom AndersonTom Anderson
Tom Anderson

“It was good to see him on Monday,” Rovers boss Darren Moore said.

“He’s not had any reactions over the weekend, which is the first step and that is great.

“And now we’re able to integrate him back into training.

“He’s done a little bit on Monday and as each day we can step him up a bit, provided he shows no ill-effects.

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“We’ll hopefully see him more back into it towards the end of the week and if things progress well he would be available for this weekend.”

Ahead of the clash with Accrington, Moore revealed that a couple of players are carrying knocks and those will be assessed in the run up to Wednesday’s game.

James Coppinger may make his return to the squad for the first time in six weeks after continuing his recovery from a calf strain.

“He’s back in now with the group training,” Moore said.

“He’s building up his fitness levels and we’ll look at the squad on Tuesday and we’ll make arrangements off that.

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“The game being put back an extra day has given them more chance of making it but we’ll see.”

Josh Sims played around 40 minutes of Saturday’s defeat at Sunderland as he returned to action for the first time in two months.

And Moore says he will now be able to cope with much longer on the pitch, and potentially start games from this point.

“From that, for Josh, it’s only going to get stronger for him in terms of more minutes from that period going forward,” he said.

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“With the games coming thick and fast, he’s put himself in a position where he can look to start games.”

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