Newport County v Doncaster Rovers: Hull City loanee signed to challenge not cover after James Maxwell blow

James Maxwell limped out of Doncaster’s opening day win over Accrington Stanley and faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

McCann has warned he could face up to nine weeks out of action, in a bitter blow following a productive pre-season for the defender.

The club have moved quickly to recruit a new left-back, reuniting Fleming with his former Tigers boss with a season-long loan deal.

However, McCann is insistent Fleming is not in Doncaster’s ranks to merely deputise.

Speaking ahead of the trip to Newport County, McCann said: “Brandon’s not come in for cover reasons. He’s come in to challenge. We don’t sign people to cover.

"We sign people to challenge. The same as Patrick Kelly, he’s not signed to cover, he’s signed to come in and take people’s places.”

Kelly and Fleming could potentially be in line for league debuts at Rodney Parade, as Doncaster look to build on their impressive league opener.

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Discussing Fleming’s readiness to play, McCann said: “He’s ready, he’s had a really good pre-season. He’s played quite a few games for Hull in the pre-season as well. He’s trained every day, he’s not missed a day’s training. He’s ready.”

“[He brings] lot of what James Maxwell can bring. A very positive full-back, good in one-v-one situations, really good character, so he’ll fit into the group really well. And he’s a good player, Brandon. I worked with for a couple of years at Hull and he’s a really good person to have around the place. Works well, trains hard, and he’s everything we like at full-back.”

While McCann has insisted Fleming is in the squad to stake a claim, he has conceded a left-back addition was not on the cards before Maxwell’s injury.

He said: “We weren’t in the market for a left-back until we heard the news from James Maxwell. We always have contingency plans. If anything happens to our players, we go back to our list, we go back to players that we like and that we’ve watched, and we understand if they can help us or not.”