Championship Preview: Doncaster v Rochdale Hornets

Doncaster’s Lee Waterman is facing three months on the sidelines with a dislocated shoulder, forcing coach Paul Cooke into a reshuffle ahead of Sunday’s Kingstone Press Championship clash with Rochdale Hornets.

Cooke said: “A lot of the teams that have been promoted this year are now finding their feet in the Championship.

“It takes time – 12 months ago we were bottom of the league – but Rochdale are in some good form.

“We’re not taking this as a given, absolutely not. We need to make improvements on our last three games, although last week we did take some strides forward from the previous two.”

Dave Llewellyn is a major doubt for Rochdale after his ankle reacted badly to last week’s match against Halifax.

Gareth Langley and Danny Davies are also set to miss out, but Alex Trumper should return for the Hornets.

Coach Ian Talbot said: “I don’t read too much into Doncaster’s loss last week – they were away at Leigh, who’ve been doing that to everybody.

“We know Doncaster are a quality team, and when you’ve got experienced players like Paul Cooke you’re always going to ask questions.”