Doncaster Rovers 1 Bristol City 1: Dickov still upbeat after being denied by Smith

Luke McCullough heads his first goal for Doncaster Rovers to give them the lead against Bristol City (Picture: Steve Uttley).

DONCASTER Rovers chief Paul Dickov remains confident his side can reach the fourth round despite being denied by one of his former players.

Striker Matt Smith was given permission by parent club Fulham to play and his second-half equaliser earned Bristol City a replay at Ashton Gate.

Smith, who scored twice for Dickov’s Oldham side in their famous FA Cup win over Liverpool two years ago, headed home to cancel out Luke McCullough’s first goal for Rovers.

Dickov, however, said of the draw against the League One title chasers: “We’ll take a lot of confidence from this.

“We’re obviously really disappointed to not come away with the win, but I’ve said to the players if we perform like that in the majority of our games then we’ll do well.

“I’m delighted with the effort of the boys. We played a really good team and we restricted them to limited chances.

“We’ll go on to Oldham next week with a lot of confidence.”

Rovers’ intense pressing disrupted the visitors’ passing game and they had the better of a goalless first period.

Doncaster carried on where they left off after the break and got their rewards when McCullough hooked home from a corner.

The visitors rescued what had seemed like an unlikely draw when former Leeds United stirker Smith headed in Luke Ayling’s cross.

The hosts had started brightly and Dean Furman sent a looping header over the bar before goalkeeper Frank Fielding blocked the South African’s effort. At the other end, Sam Johnstone turned a shot round a post from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and blocked a close-range effort from Wade Elliott.

Richie Wellens was at the heart of Rovers’ good work and the deadlock was finally broken on 50 minutes.

Andy Butler got his head to Harry Forrester’s corner and McCullough spectacularly hooked the ball home to give Doncaster a deserved lead only for Smith to equalise.

Doncaster Rovers: Johnstone, Wabara, McCullough, Butler, Stevens, Keegan; Furman (Tyson 88), Wellens, Coppinger, Robinson (Main 79); Forrester (Bennett 78). Unused substitutes: McCombe, Marosi, Wakefield, Middleton.

Bristol City: Fielding, Ayling, Flint, Williams, Little, Elliott; Korey Smith (Freeman 89), Kane (Pack 83), Bryan, Emmanuel-Thomas; M Smith. Unused substitutes: Osborne, Wagstaff, Richards, Wynter, Cunningham.

Referee: S Duncan (Tyne & Wear).  Man of the match: Richie Wellens.