Hull City v Doncaster Rovers - No fans ‘reunion’ for former Rovers boss Grant McCann

The decision of the former Doncaster Rovers chief to move to the East Riding in June 2019 left a bad taste in the mouth of Rovers followers, who under normal circumstances would have been quick to vent their spleen from a packed away section in McCann’s direction this evening.

Instead, this particular White Rose meeting – like so many already this term – will be played out in front of a deserted arena, with the sting taken out of this encounter in the process.

In truth, the fact that McCann’s replacement Darren Moore has picked up the baton so expertly at Rovers since has also helped the club move on just as quickly as the Hull manager definitely has.

The Northern Irishman has presided over an outstanding start to the campaign with Hull, more especially given the carnage of the second half of last season when the Tigers were in freefall and hurtled into the third tier at a rate of knots.

Ever the gentleman and a cool, calm and collected manager, Moore is not to sort of individual to bother himself with side-issues. Games are about players, not individuals.

He knows that he and Rovers have enough on his plate coping with a Hull side blessed with some serious players at League One level including ex-Doncaster loanee Mallik Wilks, who scored 16 goals in 2018-19 when Rovers were within a penalty shoot-out victory of reaching a League One play-off final at Wembley.

Moore, whose side have already beaten ex-Premier League sides Ipswich, Charlton, Portsmouth and Blackpool already this season and taken three points against a high-flying Lincoln City, said: “They have been really good and Grant has done really well.

“They are the pacesetters at the moment, so it is an excellent game. They are an excellent team in the ascendancy, but we are as well.

“There are two teams playing good football who are very confident at the moment going head to head. We are looking forward to the game.

“I’m sure our supporters would have loved to have been there, as I am sure the home fans would.

“I can totally understand it with the team there, one or two personnel who were once connected, but I cannot play the occasion and it is a game of football.

“I am the manager of Doncaster Rovers and (other) things are set aside.

“I just focus on what we are about and locking horns with Grant’s team.

“The media (will) build it up for what it is. It is my job to focus on the game.

“Grant is a fantastic manager and did a good job here. Hopefully, I have come in and done things my own way and shaped things my own way and will continue to.

“I have a clear vision in my head in terms of how I see the football club and anything I am doing here is for the goodness and benefit of Doncaster Rovers.”

Should Rovers win tonight, they will turn the tide of history.

They have failed to triumph on their last 14 visits to Hull – whether it be the KCOM or Boothferry Park – with the run stretching way back to September 1950.

For fit-again Rovers striker Tyreece John-Jules, striding out at a venue which hosted Premier League games as recently as 2017 will serve as a reminder of what he is aiming for in his career.

The Arsenal loanee’s route has taken him to Yorkshire to gain some invaluable education, just as it did for someone who he knows well and looks up to in Eddie Nketiah, who spent time at Leeds United last season.

Nketiah is now a firm part of the first-team picture at the Emirates Stadium and it represents inspiration for John-Jules, who trained at his parent club while he recovered from a thigh injury sustained in early October.

On the influence of Nketiah, who netted for England Under-21s at the KCOM Stadium last year, John-Jules said: “Eddie has always scored goals in any age group and I am close to him and we talk about football.

“I am happy for him and he is in the team now and scoring goals for Arsenal and that’s where I want to be.

“He lets me know how I am doing. I want to get as much out of my time at Doncaster as I can.

“In training, I have taken a lot from being around the first-team. You talk to them and I try and ask as many questions and get as much out of them as possible. That is where I want to get to.”

Last six games: Hull WWWWWD; Doncaster DWLDWW.

Referee: C Pollard (Suffolk).

Last time: Hull 0 Doncaster 0, January 31, 2012; Championship.

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