Kettering Town v Doncaster Rovers: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Doncaster Rovers will be aiming to avoid an FA Cup upset when they travel to Latimer Park to face Kettering Town in the second round on Sunday.

Kettering ply their trade in the Southern League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football, and they have already played five games to reach this stage of the competition.

Doncaster play in League Two, three levels above the Poppies, and they defeated Barrow 1-0 to earn their place in the second round.

This will be the third meeting between these two teams, with Rovers winning 1-0 at home in September 2002 before then triumphing 3-0 on the road in February 2003.

Kettering Town v Doncaster Rovers betting tips and predictions

Doncaster Rovers to win and both teams to score - 15/8

This will be an extremely tough challenge for Kettering to reach the third round and they may end up falling short in their bid to achieve this goal, although they can put up a good fight.

Richard Lavery's side sit top of their division, collecting 36 points from 16 matches, and their sole defeat from 13 home matches this term was a 2-0 FA Trophy loss to Gainsborough Trinity in October.

The Poppies have scored in 20 of their 22 matches in all competitions, with both teams to score landing in 14 of those, and they can at least give the home crowd something to cheer about by finding the back of the net.

Doncaster's League Two title bid has taken a hit in recent weeks, as they come into this clash on the back of three successive draws, but an FA Cup tie could act as a welcome distraction.

Rovers are unbeaten in their last seven away fixtures, winning five and drawing two, and they have failed to score in just one of those assignments.

Grant McCann's troops have also won three of their last four away matches in the FA Cup and they should have enough quality in their ranks to see off the challenge of Kettering.

Doncaster won't want to be one of the early FA Cup shocks and a victory here would set them up nicely for Wednesday's League Two trip to Fleetwood Town.

Joe Ironside anytime goalscorer - 1/1

McCann may decide to tweak his starting XI for this contest and that could present Joe Ironside with his just his eighth start of the campaign.

The 31-year-old has had to play second fiddle to Billy Sharp for much of the season and he has regularly come off the bench to replace the former Sheffield United captain.

But Ironside may get the nod here and he has found his shooting boots of late, scoring twice from his last five appearances, of which just one of those were stats.

Expect Ironside to make his mark if given the chance to do so at Latimer Park.

Over 11 corners - 11/8

There could be plenty of direct play seen in this contest and that could increase the chances of seeing a barrage of corners, with over 11 looking like a solid play here.

Doncaster are receiving an average of 6.65 corners in League Two, the most of any side, while they are giving away on average 4.47. That works out at just over 11 corners per game in total.

Kettering's games in the Southern League Premier Division Central have also seen plenty of corners, as they average 10.11 per match.

The Poppies will likely have lots of defending to do during this clash and they will be throwing everything they can at Doncaster to stop them from scoring, which could result in the ball being booted in row z.

Given the amount of corners this pair have seen throughout the season, it would be no surprise to see the corner count rack up on Sunday.

Read more football betting tips and predictions on site

Kettering Town v Doncaster Rovers odds

Kettering Town - 13/2
Draw - 9/2
Doncaster Rovers - 1/3

View the full market and more odds for Kettering Town v Doncaster Rovers on site

Read Kettering Town v Doncaster Rovers how to watch, TV channel, head-to-head stats, team news and more on site

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.