After returning to the Championship for the first time in 50 years, Rovers are listed among the bookmakers' favourites for relegation.

But Byfield says Rovers can follow the example set last season by Bristol City who, after winning promotion from League One, went within 90 minutes of gaining a place in the Premier League.

Byfield was released by Bristol after appearing as a substitute in the play-off final defeat against Hull City and jumped at the opportunity to stay in the Championship with Rovers.

The Birmingham-born player, 31, has served a dozen different clubs during a career that started in the top flight with Aston Villa, included a two-year spell at Rotherham United, and reaped seven international appearances for Jamaica.

He insists that Rovers can keep alive his dream of a return to the top flight and must not be happy to settle for just making up the numbers.

"You have got to be ambitious and I have not come here to finish fourth from bottom or mid-table," he stressed. "I have come here to score goals and to help the team finish as high as we possibly can."

Byfield, who is engaged to the pop star Jamelia, joined Bristol last summer after spending 12 months in London playing for Millwall.

Recalling the mood of determination at the club last summer, he said: "They were going for promotion from the word 'go'. Other people were saying that finishing fourth from bottom would be a good season but you can't think like that.

"Doncaster have a reputation for good football but people will still think 'oh, it's only Doncaster – they have just been promoted' so hopefully we can take them by surprise and achieve something."

Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll has been one of the less active in this summer's transfer market, signing only four new players: Byfield, midfielder John Spicer, Dutch defender Jos van Nieuwstadt and striker Tomi Ameobi from Leeds.

But Byfield said: "If you have been winning games, you don't need a lot of new faces. Bristol brought myself, Lee Trundle and Marvin Elliott last season and we were firing on all cylinders from the start.

"It was a disappointment to leave Bristol but I am big enough and bold enough to know that's how football works," he added. "I enjoyed my time there and it gave me a new lease of life.

"I have joined Rovers because I want to play Championship football but, most importantly, I want to play the football that Doncaster play. Even if we do get beat, which we will, we have to stick to those beliefs."

Although approaching his 32nd birthday, Byfield believes his game will improve further under the guidance of O'Driscoll.

"Every player can improve – even Ronaldo, Robbie Keane or Thierry Henry," he said. "I hope I will improve as a player here and quickly get into my stride.

"The strikers here get chances and the gaffer has signed me to put those chances away. Hopefully, I will be the guy who does get the goals but there are also a lot of good strikers at the club."

Byfield will be competing with Paul Heffernan, James Hayter, Gareth Taylor, Jason Price, Ameobi and Lewis Guy for a place in attack when the season kicks off against Derby County on August 9.

The season will have plenty of other highlights, too.

"As I'm from Birmingham, the City game obviously jumps out," said Byfield. "And Wolves, Bristol City, and the other teams that have come down; Derby and Reading. It's a great league to be a part of – but we must not fear anyone. Respect them but don't fear them. We have to get over the 'wow, look at the size of this stadium' thing and show them how good we are."

Byfield still has fond memories of his last spell in Yorkshire football with Rotherham – and admits that, four years down the road, he believes he has matured as both a player and a person.

"I was younger then and when you are not doing well, you blame everyone but yourself," he recalled. "I enjoyed my second season at Rotherham but not the first when I didn't play well.

"But the manager Ronnie Moore was a good help to me and I enjoyed my time there. I got called up for Jamaica during that second season, and after going away in the summer, came back and joined Sunderland."

In light of his showbusiness links and growing number of previous clubs, it would have been remiss of Rovers not to tread carefully before deciding to offer Byfield a permanent deal.

But, according to assistant manager Richard O'Kelly, the meeting with the player and his agent provided the evidence that Byfield was no gamble.

"Everybody we spoke to all had a good word to say about him and told us what he would bring to the club," said O'Kelly. "We know he scores goals but it was important to meet him and see what sort of personality he had. In the interview, he impressed us."

While O'Kelly agrees with Byfield's view that Rovers should the start the season with lofty ambitions, he tempers that with a note of caution.

"If we are on top of our game, we will play how we want to play," he said. "If the opposition put a spanner in the works and try to stop us playing, we will have to adjust to that

"When we kick off the season, our expectations will be automatic promotion and we will want it by 20 points – but after the first 10 games, we might have to adjust that bit.

"The plan is certainly to do better than scrap for survival," added O'Kelly. "You speak to other managers and coaches and clubs tend to be keeping their squads together if they have got promoted. They have momentum and they know each other and they tend to do better than sides that have tried to rebuild so we are very hopeful."


Stepping in at Keepmoat Stadium

In: John Spicer (Burnley), Darren Byfield (Bristol City), Jos van Nieuwstadt (Excelsior Rotterdam), Tomi Ameobi (Leeds), right.

Out: Paul Green (Derby County), Mark McCammon (Gillingham), Steve Roberts (Walsall), Graeme Lee (Bradford City), Matthew Noble.