Doncaster have rejected a Town £2.6 million joint-bid for striker Billy Sharp and midfielder James Coppinger. Rovers chairman John Ryan has confirmed that his club has turned down £2.3 million for Sharp and £300,000 for Coppinger.

Ryan says the South Yorkshire club have no plans to sell the pair: “[Manager] Sean O’Driscoll is determined to build a quality squad to go into next season and these two players are pivotal to that desire.

“The club remains ambitious and feels that with a bit more luck with injuries and refereeing decisions we can be a real force in the Championship next season.

“Sharp and Coppinger are without doubt wonderful players that are getting better and better. I’m very confident, if they both remain fit, they will influence our campaign in a very positive way.

“I’m confident Billy can notch 25 goals next season, with James providing the bullets for him, along with others.

“Myself, the directors, the management team and the players are looking forward to a great season next term - and we’re looking up rather than down.”

A number of this morning’s national newspapers reported Town’s move for Sharp, who TWTD revealed had been watched by manager Paul Jewell in March, and Coppinger, who we mentioned was strongly tipped for a Town move on Monday.

Sharp, 25, started his career with hometown club Sheffield United, spending time on loan at Rushden and Diamonds during the second half of 2004/05.

That summer, the 5ft 9in tall frontman moved on to Scunthorpe for £100,000 and it was at Glanford Park where Sharp made his name netting 24 times in his first season and on 32 occasions in his second — the most for the club for 45 years - as he helped the Iron into the League One title.

A return to Bramall Lane followed via a £2 million deal but Sharp’s second spell with the Blades never really got going, his first two seasons yielding six goals apiece.

Doncaster took him on loan a month into 2009/10 and the goals began to flow again, 15 following on from an early season strike for the Blades.

Rovers boss O’Driscoll made the switch a permanent one last summer when paid his club’s South Yorkshire neighbours £1.1 million, the striker signing a three-year deal.

This season, Sharp scored another 16 goals, including two against the Blues in Town’s 3-2 win in January. Overall, Sharp has netted 109 times in 219 starts and 24 sub appearances during his career.

Coppinger, 30, began his footballing life with Darlington but Newcastle United signed him for £250,000 while the Guisborough-born player was still a teenager.

Two loans at Hartlepool followed with a single Premier League game from the bench for the Magpies and an appearance-less spell at QPR in between them.

Coppinger joined Exeter on a free transfer in the summer of 2002 and spent two years at the other St James’ Park before moving on to Doncaster for £30,000 in June 2004. This season the 5ft 7in tall midfielder has scored seven goals but also helped Sharp to many of his.

Over his career, Coppinger, who like Sharp is contracted to Rovers until 2013, has made 359 starts and 53 sub appearances, scoring 52 goals.

Earlier in the week, Rovers defender George Friend was also mentioned in connection with the Blues.

Photo: Action Images

bizman added 12:13 - May 13 bummer
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fourpee added 12:14 - May 13 Up up up up !!
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hmhb added 12:14 - May 13 bugger
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suffolkpoker added 12:16 - May 13 broken link Phill! you missed <. so the tabloids say £2.5mil for sharp, so a 2.3mil for them both is a good starting point. money talks and go back in with £2.75imo and settle for £3m for the pair
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hampstead_blue added 12:17 - May 13 Get then in!
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Surco72 added 12:17 - May 13 Now the players know i can see them both signing soon , Doncaster are as far as they can go level wise and the players will know that and want to leave to a bigger club and more money ,especially after we gave them a hiding on their own pitch !!
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Hungry_Badger added 12:17 - May 13 I wouldnt pay anymore than 3 mill for them, if they reject that then i think we should give up on these two.
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PhilTWTD added 12:17 - May 13 No, Word put a space in there I forgot to remove. Bloody Microsoft! Amended.
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NW10_Tractor added 12:18 - May 13 Don't be disheartened.... We'll get our men. £3.25m will do it comfortably.
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We8Norwich added 12:19 - May 13 Higher, Higher
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yorkshireblue added 12:19 - May 13 You going to give me any credit to alerting you to this? No? Thought not.
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TownBlue1984 added 12:20 - May 13 I really hope we don't go for Billy Sharpe. I lived in Sheffield for two years and regularly went to Sheff Utd games with mates who were fans. He was a massive flop at them, think he only scored something like 8 goals in 50 odd games. He's only been succesful at smaller clubs like Scunthorpe and Doncaster because theres no pressure. At a club like Town with higer expectations he won't cut it!!

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suffolkpoker added 12:20 - May 13 Dont u hate that lol, i proberly would go upto £3.5m... sign them up!!
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dirtyboy added 12:23 - May 13 Oh well, let's see what happens then, but for comments like that by the Chairman to be made, kind of makes me think they'll hang on to them unless they request permission themselves.
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tractaboy added 12:26 - May 13 Hopefully that bid will unsettle them and they'll hand in a "transfer request". Seems to happen pretty often, perhaps Donny are just waiting for Town to up the offer.
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pepperot123 added 12:27 - May 13 Offer more. Must still have some Jon Walters money left. If we are serious about challenging we have to be able to close deals for the players the manager wants. Don't let us down again.
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SouperJim added 12:32 - May 13 Fantastic news! Come on Clegg, get this done!
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nthstd added 12:34 - May 13 Phil, Tell me you made this bit up- “The club remains ambitious and feels that with a bit more luck with injuries and refereeing decisions we can be a real force in the Championship next season." Any club that has luck with injuries and refereeing decisions as part of it's plans has a pretty crap plan!
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GTRKing added 12:34 - May 13 Offer 2.8ml if reject then leave it no point wasting time getting players need deal to be done & dusted
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Loyal_S added 12:35 - May 13 I'd say an offer of around £3.2m Would tempt them to accept. We're gonna have to spend alot of money on certain players if we want to be promotion contenders. Gotta spend it to make it!
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RetroBlue added 12:36 - May 13 Ooooh what a surpirse Donny reject bid. So would we if the shoe were on the other foot. Come on Town pay up and get the deal done ffs , or we will run the risk of losing out yet again.
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Mark added 12:41 - May 13 So the bids are rejected, but it does seems that John Ryan is talking the players up perhaps so we increase the bid! It is a lot of money and I am not sure if we should go too much higher. It is a pity we didn't go for Sharp a year ago when he was £1.1M.
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Ipswich24 added 12:42 - May 13 all we got to do is offer Scotland and somebody else in part exchange
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Paulc added 12:43 - May 13 Golden opportunity taken by their Chairman to make public the value of the bid he's turned down - achieving two things: 1. Makes Donny fans think he has the ambition to keep his 'stars' 2. Actually alerts all other interested parties where the bidding starts. I favour the latter to be most true.
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jas0999 added 12:45 - May 13 Disappointing news. Sounds like Doncaster are not willing to sell.
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