Arsenal v Doncaster Rovers: Butler's pledge to absent son as Rovers seek upset

As the only Doncastrian likely to be in his hometown club’s line-up, Andy Butler can vouch for the special nature of tonight’s glamour tie at Arsenal better than most – with it having been a hot topic of conversation in his own household and across countless others in the town since the draw was made last month.

Butler’s sense of parental duty means that his son Ashton, who turns nine tomorrow, will not be in attendance for Rovers’ first trip to the Emirates Stadium – getting up bright and early for school in the morning taking precedence.

The Rovers defender hopes to light up his birthday with a special gift, nevertheless, by swapping shirts with a home player and bringing back an Arsenal jersey – while also, hopefully, securing a famous result into the bargain.

Butler told The Yorkshire Post: “It is a bit of a strange day as my kids have got school in the morning and my lad is not coming. It is his birthday on Thursday, but he is staying at home – otherwise he will get back too late for school.

“But he is all right about it. I am going to see if I can get him an Arsenal shirt for his birthday. All the kids have been talking about the game and they see you and say, ‘you are going to be playing against Arsenal.”

“You have to be excited about playing against the top clubs at the top grounds. I have never played at Wembley, which is one thing I want to do, but Arsenal is another of the top grounds.”

Despite the disparity in the size of the two clubs, Rovers and Arsenal do have previous in this competition and it is not solely to do with their famous quarter-final tie at Belle Vue in December 2005, when the Gunners survived a major scare after Gilberto’s last-gasp goal forced a penalty shootout which saw them prevail 3-1.

Just under 30 years ago in October 1987, Rovers visited Arsenal in the Littlewoods Cup, losing 1-0 at Highbury, although considerably more away fans will descend on the Gunners’ current home nearly three decades on.

Since then, Rovers have rarely played at any of the major grounds in the country in a knock-out competition, aside from an FA Cup fourth-round replay at Villa Park in February 2009.

But other than that, the staple cup diet has been trips to distinctly unglamorous venues, as Butler can testify.

He added: “It is a good draw. Usually in the FA Cup, we get Oldham away. So it was a nice little surprise to get Arsenal away.

“You have to look forward to these days. I have been at a couple of big grounds in FA Cup runs at other clubs, but never here and it is the chance that I did not think would ever come.

“I remember playing as a youth-team player for Scunthorpe at Old Trafford and we lost 8-0 and I scored an own goal. Ben Muirhead played for them and he is from Doncaster.

“I have also played at Chelsea and Manchester City and I played Arsenal in a centenary game with Huddersfield and I think we drew one-all and Theo Walcott played up front.

“Arsenal away is brilliant for everyone involved with the club. I did not see the draw and actually got my days mixed up. But one of the younger lads put it on a group (message) early doors and the phones starting pinging.”

For Butler and his team-mates, the tie also arrives at a timely juncture and offers the potential to lift morale after a dispiriting few weeks.

Rovers head into the game on the back of a 1-0 derby loss to Scunthorpe, which extended their league winless streak to a rather worrying six matches.

Butler is hoping that a positive show – and maybe even result – can ignite their season and draws inspiration from the cup exploits of a rival from Yorkshire against Arsenal back in 2012.

He said: “You never know what can happen in this cup. Bradford did it where they beat Arsenal. We’ve got to take hope from that.

“This one game can kick-start our season. Results have not gone as well as we wanted and hopefully we can take something into the league games. We have to use it as a one-off game where anything can happen.”

Doncaster Rovers face Arsenal on September 20 in round three of the Carabao Cup, sponsored by Carabao Energy Drink.

Last six games: Arsenal WLLWWD Doncaster LDDLLL.

Referee: S Duncan (Northumberland).

Last time: Arsenal 1 Doncaster 0; October 6, 1987; League Cup.