Doncaster assistant manager Richard O’Kelly is expecting a difficult game when his side take on the Blues at Portman Road on Saturday. Sean O’Driscoll’s right-hand man feels Town have too many quality players to have been relegated this season, despite spending much of the year towards the bottom of the division.

O’Kelly said: "By all accounts they were unlucky to lose 3-0 against Nottingham Forest. Ipswich are a good football side and they are strong and organised.

"They've got a threat up front with Murphy and young Wickham. They are both very dangerous at set-pieces along with McAuley and Walters. They all attack the ball well in the box so it will be tough.

"They have been in danger of getting dragged into the relegation dogfight on several occasions but you always felt they have got too much quality to go down and that's been proved right,

"I think that Roy Keane has stuck with the majority of his players he's got at the club and added a few more and he's turned things around.

"That's what we did last season when we were battling against relegation. You can't go around changing things left right and centre.

"You have got to have a philosophy and believe in what you do and you have just got to try and do it."

Doncaster could have skipper Brian Stock and fellow midfielder James Coppinger back after injury on Saturday. Stock has been suffering with back and calf problems, while Coppinger has been out with an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Town duo Pim Balkestein and Liam Trotter are both expected to miss their loan clubs’ fixtures this weekend.

Balkestein, currently with Brentford, has suffered a recurrence of his groin injury and is back at Playford Road undergoing treatment, while Trotter was subbed at half-time in Millwall’s midweek draw with Yeovil due to a tight hamstring and is expected miss Friday’s game with Huddersfield.

Elsewhere, Kevin Lisbie’s red card for a headbutt while playing for Colchester against his former club Charlton on Tuesday has been rescinded by the FA after the U’s appealed.

Photo: Action Images

Blueknight85 added 15:17 - Apr 15 Boo cant believe Lisbie was innocent how many town fans can we get at the next colchester home game to hurl rotten fruit at him
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Wallingford_Boy added 16:08 - Apr 15 I see Bowditch is banging them in for Yeovil.... should never had got rid, I expect a CCC/Prem club to snap him up this summer.
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superblueflude added 16:15 - Apr 15 Wallingford where does it say anything about Bowditch?
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Nunn_the_Wiser added 16:22 - Apr 15 Might hazard a guess that Wallingford is being sarcastic? I hope....
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Wallingford_Boy added 16:23 - Apr 15 Superblueflude - on teletext it did, he got their goal the other night.
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superblueflude added 16:26 - Apr 15 Oh sorry I thought this story was about Donny Not a player who had what 4 seasons to prove himself but didn't
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tom_the_blue added 16:29 - Apr 15 blueknight I'm up for that, not much he could do about it, he wouldn't run away he's too lazy, and apparently now he can't even headbutt someone properly.
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Wallingford_Boy added 16:49 - Apr 15 Superblueflude - what ARE you talking about?!
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superblueflude added 16:52 - Apr 15 Bowditch, he had so many chance to prove himself yet didn't and your saying you think we should have kept him.
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Wallingford_Boy added 17:27 - Apr 15 Yep and Forster - he scored the other night too.
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im_marcacus added 17:32 - Apr 15 teletext
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jas0999 added 18:02 - Apr 15 This has a draw written over it.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 18:43 - Apr 15 And as regards the Doncaster match!.... I think it'll be a draw, which would be the best result to keep the troops divided over the +s and -s of this season.
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tractorboybig added 20:20 - Apr 15 Hi all, you only expect a draw against Doncaster? Under Jim anything less than a 3-0 win would be a disaster. Still you pro Keen ****** really have moved this club on.
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tom_the_blue added 20:32 - Apr 15 yes, just because we support the manager that means we should be sworn at. You obviously know nothing about football and don't support the side. Not sure where you get that information from, but you're so anti-Keane I tend not to take any notice of anything you say,
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Mungo added 21:52 - Apr 15 1) The Donny match - Largely pointless end of season fixture. Neither side has much left to play for, so lets not expect too much. If we win, great. If not, its not a disaster anymore. Lets start looking to next season. 2) Lisbie was a bad signing - get over it. It has happened before and will happen inevitably again. To be fair I can't blame him for not wanting to come back when there is a section of the 'fans' planning to bombard him with rotting fruit and vegetables! 3) Bowditch leaving was right for both the club and the player. He would have made no impact under RK but has had a decent season at Yeovil. Hopefully he will go on and have a decent career, but he made little impact at Town and had to move on.

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superblueflude added 07:33 - Apr 16 And regarding anything less against than 3-0 - Donny are a hard team to beat, they park the bus, keep it tight and are a bogey team to numerous "big" boys in this this division.
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bennyblue added 12:17 - Apr 16 so the doncaster manager reckons we are really dangerous at set peices .... he must be a bigger fool than keane. if thats possible
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tom_the_blue added 12:23 - Apr 16 hasn't Mcauley scored 5 this season, that suggests we do have some threat from set-pieces...
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