DONCASTER ROVERS v WEST HAM UNITED
npower CHAMPIONSHIP
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST 2011
KICK-OFF: 3pm
FULL AUDIO COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
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Introduction
• West Ham United start their 2011/12 npower Championship away campaign with their first trip to Doncaster Rovers since Sunday 1 March 1958. The Hammers have never played at the Keepmoat Stadium.
• Sam Allardyce's men will hope it is a good omen as that was the club's first ever promotion season to the top flight of English football, with the Hammers going on to win the old Division Two and Doncaster finishing last.
• West Ham began their campaign with a 1-0 home defeat by Cardiff City while Doncaster went down 2-1 at Brighton and Hove Albion. Rovers bounced back in midweek with a 3-0 home defeat of Tranmere Rovers in the Carling Cup first round.
• The Hammers were relegated last season after finishing last in the Barclays Premier League. Doncaster finished in 21st place in the Championship, one spot above the relegation zone.
• This is West Ham's fifth spell outside the top flight since the promotion season of 1957/58. Those previous occasions lasted for three seasons, two seasons, one season and two seasons, and in those eight campaigns the lowest second-tier finish was seventh.
• West Ham spent six seasons in the Premier League, having last been promoted in 2004/05. Doncaster have been a Championship club since the 2008/09 campaign.
• West Ham's best away win at Doncaster was the 4-1 success in the old Division Two on 6 March 1937. Rovers have won 3-0 on two occasions and also recorded a 4-1 triumph at home against the Hammers on 17 November 1951, also in the old Division Two.
• James Tomkins was an unused substitute for England when they lost 1-0 to Greece at the Keepmoat Stadium in a UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier on 3 March 2010.
• Joey O'Brien scored at the Keepmoat Stadium for Bolton Wanderers in a 5-0 pre-season friendly win on 1 August 2008.
• Kevin Nolan scored a last-minute winner against Doncaster when Newcastle United won 2-1 at St James' Park on 24 October 2009, en route to promotion to the Premier League. Nolan also played in the 1-0 win at the Keepmoat Stadium on 23 March 2010.
• Sam Allardyce was the manager of the Bolton Wanderers team featuring Abdoulaye Faye that became the first side to beat Doncaster Rovers in the Keepmoat Stadium when they won 4-0 in an FA Cup third-round tie on 6 January 2007. Doncaster had played their first game there five days before.
• Eleven of the Hammers' last 12 away matches have featured three or more goals. West Ham have not won an away game since 2 February 2011, meaning they have not won on the road in the last seven trips out of east London.
Team news
West Ham United
• Peter Kurucz (knee) and Gary O'Neil (ankle) are both definitely out. Julien Faubert (hamstring) missed out against Cardiff last week but was back in training this week.
• Junior Stanislas, Zavon Hines and Frank Nouble are also hoping to force their way into the manager's matchday squad.
• New recruits George McCartney and John Carew are not yet ready to be involved.
• Marek Stech, Jack Collison and Pablo Barrera played in midweek for Czech Republic U21s, Wales and Mexico respectively, with the latter travelling back to England from Philadelphia in the US on Thursday. Robert Green and Scott Parker were back at the club on Thursday after England duty.
• Jordan Spence is on a season-long loan at Bristol City while Olly Lee and Cristian Montano are on month-long stays at Dagenham & Redbridge and Notts County respectively.
Doncaster Rovers
• The hosts have a number of injury problems, most notably star striker Billy Sharp being out with an ankle injury suffered at Brighton last week. James Hayter also hurt his knee in that match and could also be absent at the weekend.
• Doncaster lost on-loan Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason to an ankle injury in the midweek win against Tranmere Rovers. Also in the treatment room of late have been James O'Connor, James Chambers, Martin Woods, Brian Stock, Adam Lockwood, Shelton Martis and Mark Wilson.
Last time out
Sunday 7 August 2011
npower Championship
West Ham United 0-1 Cardiff City
West Ham United: Green, O'Brien, Tomkins, Reid, Ilunga, Sears (Barrera 82), Noble (Collison 74), Parker, Nolan, Taylor, Piquionne (Cole 75)
Subs not used: Boffin, Faye
Tuesday 9 August 2011
Doncaster Rovers 3-0 Tranmere Rovers
Doncaster Rovers: Woods, Friend, Naylor (Keegan 60), Spurr, Hird, Mason (Baxendale 79), Oster, Gillett, Bennett, Coppinger, Brown (Barnes 63)
Subs not used: Sullivan, Radford, Wilding, Ball
Goals: Brown 5 pen, Mason 29, Bennett 59
Last six meetings
(Championship unless stated)
1 March 1958 Doncaster Rovers 1-2 West Ham United (old Division Two)
19 October 1957 West Ham United 1-1 Doncaster Rovers (old Division Two)
16 March 1957 West Ham United 1-1 Doncaster Rovers (old Division Two)
3 November 1956 Doncaster Rovers 3-0 West Ham United (old Division Two)
26 March 1956 Doncaster Rovers 2-1 West Ham United (old Division Two)
22 October 1955 West Ham United 6-1 Doncaster Rovers (old Division Two)
Overall record v Doncaster Rovers (all competitions) W 7 D 5 L 10
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted to Premier League via play-offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
2001/02 Premier League 7th (53 points)
Doncaster Rovers
2010/11 Championship 21st (48 points)
2009/10 Championship 12th (60 points)
2008/09 Championship 14th (58 points)
2007/08 League One 3rd (80 points - promoted to Championship)
2006/07 League One 11th (63 points)
2005/06 League One 8th (69 points)
2004/05 League One 10th (66 points)
2003/04 Third Division (now League Two) 1st (92 points - promoted to League One)
2002/03 Conference 4th (67 points)
2001/02 Conference 9th (58 points)
Referee
• Saturday's referee will be Scott Mathieson. He had the honour of getting the 2011/12 npower Football League season up and running when he took charge of Blackpool's 1-0 win at Hull City on Friday 5 August.
• He took charge of two Doncaster games last season - the 2-1 home win against Millwall on 6 November 2010 and the 1-1 home draw with Preston North End on 12 April 2011.
• His first and only West Ham United match to date came with the 1-1 draw at Walsall on 20 December 2003.
Old boys
• Doncaster midfielder Giles Barnes, the nephew of former Hammers player Bobby Barnes, is on a six-month contract at the Keepmoat Stadium.
• Players to have represented both clubs include Rufus Brevett, Brian Deane, Fred Dell, Trevor Hartley, Jack Kirkaldie, Billy Linwood, Paul Marquis, George Ratcliffe, Fred Shreeve, Hal Tate, George Wagstaffe, Albert Walker.
Next up
• West Ham United are on the road again on Tuesday night when they go to Watford, while Doncaster are at home on the same evening against Nottingham Forest.
General information
• For ticket information, click here.
• Saturday's forecast in west Yorkshire is for a cloudy day, with temperatures peaking around the 20C mark.