Newport County v Doncaster Rovers: Cliff Byrne insists Rovers are focused on league after win over Hull City secured Everton cup tie

Doncaster knocked Championship side Hull City out of the Carabao Cup earlier this week, setting up a second round tie against Everton.

Newport County are next up for Rovers, meaning ambitions of upsetting the Toffees will have to take a back seat for the time being.

Doncaster’s assistant manager Cliff Byrne said: “It’s an exciting draw. It’s one for the fans, one for the players, one for the staff all around the football club, so it’s exciting.

"But the main focus this week is the league, the draw and the cup game will take care of itself when it comes round.”

Their performance against Hull was considerably more impressive than the one they delivered on the opening weekend of the EFL season, when beaten by Yorkshire rivals Harrogate Town.

Byrne said: “I like the progression we’ve made from the opening game of the season to the midweek game. We expected to do better against Harrogate, we showed a real progression leading into the Hull game.

"It displays the appetite of the players and the willingness to learn and keep improving from their point and we were pleased with the performance that came on Tuesday.”

The 2023-24 season is less than a week old but Doncaster have already been exposed to the highs and lows football throws up.

One player who will certainly not feature against Newport or Everton is midfielder Liam Ravenhill, who looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

Byrne said: "It’s really unfortunate for Liam, we’re gutted for him. Nobody likes to pick up those kind of injuries but we’ll get right behind him and around him support him going forward. There will be a process but we’ll give him all the support he needs.

"We are hopeful it’s going to be less than that [a year] but historically, those types of injuries have kept people out for that period of time.”

Kyle Hurst, however, has a chance of returning against Newport after missing the first two games of the season through injury.