Doncaster Rovers and Darren Moore out to trump Premier League old boys Sunderland, Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Hull City and Portsmouth

The desire of Sunderland, Portsmouth, Charlton, Ipswich Town and Hull City to move out of the third tier in an upward trajectory as quickly as possible does not need spelling out.

Then there are two outfits who have real designs on reaching the Championship in Lincoln City and Plymouth Argyle, who are quasi-regional clubs in their own right and draw plenty of support from their respective counties of Lincolnshire and Devon, two of the biggest in terms of geographical size across England.

Current leaders Peterborough United are also a go-ahead club who have spent a fair bit of time in the second tier over the years.

It points to another hugely competitive League One landscape, even accounting for the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across the division.

While Doncaster have plenty to contend with in that regard, ambition also burns brightly.

It was shown by keeping hold of outstanding captain Ben Whiteman in the last transfer window, despite a number of bids from neighbours Barnsley.

Times may be tough and funds are extremely tight as it stands, but on the pitch, there is much optimism at Rovers, who are led by one – if not the – outstanding coach in League One in Darren Moore.

Chief executive Gavin Baldwin told The Yorkshire Post: “We still believe we have given ourselves every chance to challenge for the top six.

“Darren, as our manager, believes our team is better than last year and we can have an exciting season.

“We know we’ve got to have the most successful team we possibly can. For us, that means challenging for the play-offs every year.

“We kept Ben and the owners were adamant that is what we were going to do and they stepped in at the start. They are not going to let our club cut our knees off to stay alive. They will protect us against that.

“But equally, they are very shrewd. They want us to run fast and work very hard, so that it is not the easy option to go to the owners and say: ‘Please can you help.’

“Because they have challenges outside Doncaster Rovers that they are trying to deal with at the moment.

“When we come out of this period, we will be a lot stronger club. Financially, because we will have found other sources of revenue and will have had the time to look at what we will do and not do (going forward).

“But to all that, we know we have got to have the most successful team we possibly can and, for us, that means challenging for the play-offs every year.”

Wrestling with the fiscal implications of coronavirus has ensured that Rovers have had to work smarter than ever in the loan market to convince up-and-coming young players to head to the Keepmoat Stadium.

They are fortunate in that regard to have Moore, whose ability to develop young players precedes him from his successful time at West Bromwich.

Big clubs trust Moore – a former youth coach who also worked as loans manager in his time at The Hawthorns – with their players in terms of broadening their football education.

His contacts book is extensive and Rovers also possess an adept recruiter in talent identification manager Adam Henshall, who secured loans for the likes of Dean Henderson, Ben Godfrey, Tyler Roberts and Ivan Toney during his time at former club Shrewsbury Town.

Their collective presence has helped convince five Premier League clubs in Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton, West Brom and Southampton that the interests of Matt Smith, Tyreece John-Jules, Taylor Richards, Rayhaan Tulloch and Josh Sims were best served in heading to Doncaster as opposed to elsewhere in 2020-21.

In difficult times, it is proving a potential trump card for Rovers and can have further spin-offs down the line.

“Darren is really proud of the fact that he will hand players back who are better than when they came,” added Baldwin.

“If we can get a reputation for that, then, hopefully, we will be one of the first clubs that the Premier League and Championship clubs will look to when looking to develop their young players.

“You also look at Cameron John, who came from Wolves last year and had an exceptional (loan) season and then he became available (permanently).

“Because of how much he enjoyed being at Doncaster Rovers, working with Darren and the rest of the staff, he had choices to go to other clubs, but chose Doncaster.

“It also gives us an opportunity to work with those type of players in the future if they become available to the wider market.”

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