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

coco_the_clown added 12:48 - May 13 Higher Higher !! Phil - buy a Mac.
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SouperJim added 12:52 - May 13 Paulc has it right, clearly they're up for sale. PJ will now comment on the bid, saying we have other options and we move on. We will then up the bid next week. Would love to see this deal get done but I don't think we should go much higher than £3m, not sure it'll be enough, depends if any other clubs join the chase.
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ozzydog added 12:59 - May 13 No need to up the offer. Both will be putting in transfer requests as we speak. ITFC will pay them far more then Donny
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BYRNE_16 added 13:01 - May 13 Thats 2 out of the 5 or 6 Jewell had in mind! We are going to get this all Summer! So don't get your hopes up!
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KenDubZ added 13:03 - May 13 3 million !!
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simonsays added 13:05 - May 13 Clegg out!
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blues1 added 13:15 - May 13 oh yer, simonsays. great comment. typical of you 2. lets blame clegg for their chairman rejecting the bid. why are some of our fans such idiots?
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suffolkpoker added 13:20 - May 13 lol @ simonsays - thats surely tongue in cheek blues1!
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suffolkpoker added 13:23 - May 13 anyway Mr clegg - its time ot strike while the iron is hot! you do this deal for under £3.5mil... then all is forgiven :)
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comeonthegoodtimes added 13:23 - May 13 Cue the bid from Burnley..lol Now we have made our intentions clear i guess we just sit and wait for a nit which isn't a bad thing in my eyes. Give the two players time to mull over what is happening and let them make there own minds up, I'd be surprised if they don't have a word with there chairman in the next day or so just to see where they stand and what there own club's amitions are in the coming season, I somehow don't think it's the same as ours and i believe we will be having them down for at least a chat in the coming weeks.......Cue Mr clegg. I have every faith

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Fatboy added 13:24 - May 13 No surprise that Doncaster have rejected an initial bid. If they had accepted, it would probably have been a sign that we had offered more than they were expecting. More surprising is that Town are trying to buy players and it's not even August yet!
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Tiggs added 13:25 - May 13 Wake up you lot! When are you going to realise that these deals will never happen whilst Clegg is involved with our club. Charlie Austin was at PR a whole day and Clegg couldn't close the deal. Also, it is widely acknowledged that Chopra and others have visited the club with the same outcome. The main problem during the Keane era was not with him but with Clegg!
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comeonthegoodtimes added 13:26 - May 13 That wait for a nit was ment to say wait for a bit.....no pun on you Mr Clegg..... just not looking when i'm typing
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bizman added 13:28 - May 13 This is interesting what O'Driscoll said in April : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/9455800.stm
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Fatboy added 13:28 - May 13 Can anyone on here offer any insight into why it didn't work out for Sharp at Sheff Utd?
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cornishnick added 13:30 - May 13 Would represent a good profit for Donny on their original outlay on Sharp. A small rise and I'll be surprised if they didn't go for it. Let them keep Coppinger though
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Lightningboy added 13:40 - May 13 Fair enough if they don't think £2.6M is enough but I think Doncaster need to be careful that they don't end up in the same situation as Preston have with St.Ledger...turned down very good money for him,got relegated and now keen to get rid for a lot less than we originally offered I would imagine. Nice to know that we've given PJ some decent cash to spend anyhow...I just hope we don't end up dragging this one out too long..if there's nothing doing let's try for someone else sooner rather than later.

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Fatboy added 13:45 - May 13 I agree, Lightningboy. With at least two half-decent sides coming up from League One, Doncaster would do well to take the cash and bring in 3 or 4 players to strengthen their squad and ensure they don't get relegated next season.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 13:48 - May 13 Sharp is a BIG risk at £2.3m. Promising that we are agressively targetting players and willing to spend though.
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SitfcB added 13:49 - May 13 Blues1 - Have a WHHOOOOOOSSSSHHH!
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petieboy2011 added 13:51 - May 13 Im so pleased to see us try to do deals quick for a change rather than just talk about doing them! Lets hope we can work out a deal with Donny as I think Sharp and Coppinger would fit into our squad nicely. Our ambitions will certainly be higher than a team that finished 1 place above the relegation zone and I dont think we'd have any problems "selling" the club to the players either. Im looking forward to seeing how this one pans out. On a side note - anyone heard anymore about Michael Owen coming here yet? Thats my favourite rumour so far this summer!

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DanLyles added 13:53 - May 13 Sharp and Coppinger will be aware of the interest, appreciate that they could join a much bigger club and know that PJ has already got two teams promoted. Doncaster have to accept the football transfer 'food chain', like we would have to if Newcastle, Spurs or Liverpool come in for Wickham. We always seem to get ripped off when buying players so will probably have to stretch to £3m for the pair

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rogie_dog added 14:02 - May 13 Here we go again.
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Infineteregress added 14:10 - May 13 Coppinger could probably do a good job in midfield but have to say I'm not entirely convinced Sharp would do much for us upfront. I'd rather see us targetting the likes of Nicky Maynard or Shane Long (assuming Reading don't make it through the play offs).
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robdaful added 14:15 - May 13 Increase the bit to around 3.25m but then think about walking way. Any news on Westwood or Nugent?
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