Why Doncaster Rovers will be made to train on Christmas Day before Tranmere Rovers trip

Rovers boss Danny Schofield confirmed there would be no change to their pre-match routine despite it clashing with the climax of the festive season.

"I went 22 years without having Christmas Day off so I’m not going to start passing that on to the players,” said Schofield, who revealed he was not particularly keen on Christmas.

"It’s a time you have to sacrifice over the Christmas period compared to normal professions.

"The players and myself are very privileged to work in football and we all understand that.”

After Tranmere, Doncaster will be back in action at home to Rochdale on December 29 before they host Carlisle at the Eco-Power Stadium on New Year’s Day.

Last weekend’s postponement means they will have gone 16 days without playing by the time they return to action on Monday ahead of three matches in seven days.

Schofield could therefore utilise his squad and said: “We have got players we feel can come into certain games and impact, so we have got ideas of playing them in certain games.

"We might play players for 60 minutes and replacing them with someone to compete for 30 minutes.”

Rovers hosted League One promotion-chasers Sheffield Wednesday in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Wednesday to maintain the players’ match sharpness.

Schofield said: “Everyone played 45 minutes. If the Harrogate game went ahead we would have got players more minutes who have not had them.

"It was just to replicate our messages and principles of how we play.

"We saw the game as a training session, but also with the mindset to go and compete against a good Sheffield Wednesday team.”

Doncaster were beaten 2-1 by a youthful Owls side but Schofield insisted: "We got a lot of good returns from that.”

Schofield has now enjoyed the rare luxury of having two two-week breaks between fixtures mid-season.

He said: “We’ve had some really good open meetings reflecting on our time working together and how we can improve things.

"There is a quiet confidence within the group. There is definitely a belief that we are moving in the right direction in terms of performances.

"There’s players who challenge me and question, which is great, and we try and find solutions together.”