DONCASTER have been warned to rediscover their killer instinct at Valley Parade.
Boss Grant McCann was furious with his side’s 1-0 home defeat to lowly Bromley in midweek.
Rovers will probably be glad to be back on their travels for the Yorkshire derby.
They have netted five in successive wins at Grimsby and Swindon but have found things harder on their own turf – scoring just twice in the last four home games.
McCann has hinted that there could be changes in the January transfer window if his team do not buck up.
He said: "Good groups are great to have. But I want a group full of killers.
“People who want to put their body on the line to score a goal, to get hurt, to get us in games.
"I'm not sensing that in the group at the moment so it's my job to get it out of them and find a way to be much more clinical. Because January comes around quick.
“I've said that to the players, because if they're not going to do it then I haven't got time to wait this season. We haven't got time to wait as a football club.
"We know where we want to be, so it's important we get that right."
Doncaster surged into the play-offs last season on the back of a 10-game winning in March and April. They lost just once in the league after City beat them in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy quarter-finals.
Expectations are high to take that form once step further this time with promotion – and McCann is laying it on the line.
“We know it’s a long season with swings and roundabouts and we know there’s ups and downs and want to have more ups.
“We want to approach every game single-mindedly to try and win that game, regardless of who it is against, regardless of it being Bradford on Saturday.
“I know Graham (Alexander) and he’s a good manager and experienced. All his teams are hard-working and they are doing well for him at this moment in time, but my focus is only on us.
“We’ve focused really hard this week in us improving in certain aspects and hopefully we can implement that plan."
McCann is pleased to see the improvement in the Valley Parade playing surface compared with Doncaster's previous two visits at the start of the year.
"I think it’s a lot better now and they have put a bit of money into the pitch by all accounts and it looks better anyway.
"It wasn’t great last season in particular. But it was a strange sort of pitch, I know it didn’t look great, but was quite flat and the ball could still move on it.
"I know it looked like it was just mud, but it was quite flat and you could still move the ball. It definitely looks better this year."
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