Rovers on wing and a prayer

Faced with another long trip to South Wales on Saturday for their League One clash at Swansea, Rovers decided to fly down to Devon from the town's international airport this morning.

It is only the second time in the club's history that they have flown to a game and they will be hoping for a better result than when they took to the air before their FA Cup second round tie at Exeter City a couple of years ago.

Their disappointment at losing to the Grecians was compounded wheh they landed the dream draw of a trip to Old Trafford in the third round.

Tonight's game will be only Rovers third visit to Home Park in more than 20 years and their first since the 1995-96 season when they suffered a 3-1 Division Three defeat.

Previous to that game Rovers had beaten Argyle twice on home soil in three visits.

Tonight's game is the first time that the two teams have met in the League Cup.

Their only previous meeting in knockout football resulted in a 2-0 win for Rovers in an FA Cup tie at Home Park in the 1953-54 season.

The Pilgrims, who beat last year's surprise package Wycombe Wanderers at home in the first round, have suffered a series of first round defeats in the competition in the last 15 years. However, they have twice reached the semi-final – the last time being back in 1974.

Manager Ian Holloway, now back at his desk at Home Park after recently being rushed to hospital with severe stomach pains – which turned out to be caused by kidney stones – is not treating Rovers lightly.

He said: "People may look at the fact that we are playing Doncaster and think that we've got a good chance of getting through to the next round, but it doesn't work like that.

"Having said that I am quite happy with the fact that we didn't get one of the big boys and I am pleased to have a home draw."

Holloway rang the changes for the Wycombe game and fielded promising several promising youngsters such as Luke Summerfield and Scott Laird.

Holloway has yet to show his hand ahead of tonight's game, but he is not expected to make the same number of changes as against the Chairboys.

One man Rovers will have to keep a close eye on tonight, if he plays, is highly-rated midfielder David Norris.

The subject of a rejected 1m bid from fellow Championship rivals, Southampton he is also reportedly interesting Ipswich. and Sheffield United.

Irrespective of who he plays tonight, Holloway will be looking for an improvement on Saturday's showing at Oakwell, where his side lost 3-2.

He said: "I didn't lke what I saw, simple as that. The whole ethos of what we are all about was wrong. It didn’t look like my team out there.”

His Doncaster counterpart, Sean O’Driscoll, will also be looking for a more typical showing from his squad after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Bournemouth.

Skipper Adam Lockwood was also disappointed by Rovers performance and welcomes an early chance to make amends.

He said: “It is always good to have a game straight away when you have suffered a disappointing defeat and hopefully we can put things right at Home Park.

“With Plymouth being a Championship side and also being at home, we’ll be the underdogs. But I don’t think that will affect how we apprpoach the game.

“Everyone knows that the league is our top priority but that is not to say that we aren’t bothered about the Carling Cup. As a player you want to win every game you play and we’ll be looking to try and do that tonight.

“If we were to come away with a win tonight not only would it put us through to the next round, but it would also boost our confidence going into te Swansea game.”