Doncaster Rovers v Middlesbrough: Diouf links up with Doncaster aiming to climb high

Diouf, arguably the most high profile signing in the club’s 132-year history, was a free agent after leaving Blackburn Rovers and is still looking to play in the Premier League.

Yet thanks to a link-up between Rovers and the player’s agent Willie McKay, he has agreed to a temporary stay in the second tier of English football and will make his debut tonight against Middlesbrough at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Manager Dean Saunders thinks Diouf will help Rovers climb out of the Championship relegation zone but has also stressed that any player with the ‘wrong attitude’ will be shown the door.

Diouf, now 30, has been involved in a catalogue of unsavoury incidents during his career including four separate allegations of spitting at opponents or fans.

He was sent off playing on loan for Scottish club Rangers last season and was thrown out by Blackburn this summer after failing to report for a pre-season tour.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s game, Diouf said: “I like to take my time about a decision and when I do something I want to do it with my heart. Now I am here, I am ready to give everything to the club. I am here to score goals and win football games.”

Diouf shrugged off talk about his ‘bad boy’ reputation and vowed to ‘let his football do the talking’ during his stay in South Yorkshire.

“It doesn’t affect me what people say, I have a nice family and I respect other people. After tomorrow, the football is going to start talking again. Other people say it but I don’t think I am a bad boy. I have never been to jail or done something really stupid. People talk about this because of my ‘swag’ but life is like that.”

Diouf, who might normally command wages in the region of £50,000 a week, will play for less than £2,000 a week during his time at Rovers in exchange for an opportunity to parade his talents.

He has rejected a move to mega rich Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala and trained with clubs including West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Preston North End in the last few months.

“I don’t see this as a step down and if I was only here for the money I would have gone to Russia or Qatar,” he said. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the challenge.

“I felt I was too young to go to Russia and I want another three years in the Premier League. Look at Craig Bellamy. He went to Cardiff on loan last season and is now back at a big Premier League club.

“I still see my future in the Premier League but for now I am focused on this team.”

Diouf began his career in French football with Lens before joining Liverpool for £10m after starring for Senegal in the 2002 World Cup. After struggling for goals at Anfield, he revived his career at Bolton before joining Sunderland for £2.6m in 2008. He linked up again with former Bolton manager Sam Allardyce at Blackburn after just one season in the North East.

He has twice been named African Footballer of the Year and was also named in a list of the 125 greatest living footballers by Pele seven years ago.

Diouf admitted that he had never been to Doncaster before and the only person he knew who lived in the town was his agent McKay.

He has never previously played in the Championship and can expect a baptism of fire tonight because a young Middlesbrough supporter was one of his alleged spitting victims seven years ago.

Saunders, who has already signed French international Pascal Chimbonda and Congo international Herita Ilinga through McKay, moved for Diouf amid a shortage of strikers at the Keepmoat.

Crowd favourite Billy Sharp is absent for the second game in a row tonight due to personal issues and loan signing Jon Parkin returned to Cardiff last week.

“I’m really pleased that we have got him (Diouf) because he is a top player who is willing to buy into what I am trying to do,” said Saunders. “He’s got a reputation – you can’t argue with that – but he seems like a nice lad to me.

“I am not frightened of managing him because I have worked with international players all my career,” he added. “And no one is bigger than the club.

“If anyone comes in with the wrong attitude they won’t be at this club for long. But he’s a ‘man’ and we need a few more of them in our current situation.

“He is a Premier League player and I think he feels hard done by. He is coming here to play for next to nothing and repair his reputation.

“He said ‘if you sign me gaffer I will be really loyal to you and give you everything I have got’. I knew he was talented but I also wanted to know that he was coming here to have a go.

“Both Chimbonda and Ilunga have been brilliant so far and, obviously, all three have personal reasons to get their careers back on track. We probably couldn’t afford to keep them any longer but we need points over the next three months.”

Middlesbrough’s Kevin Thomson is set to miss out with a hamstring injury and Jonathan Franks remains on the sidelines following shoulder surgery.

Last six games: Rovers DWLLLD, Middlesbrough DDDLWL.

Last time: Rovers 2 Middlesbrough 1; Deecember 17, 2010; Championship.

Referee: D Deadman (Cambridgeshire).