Thomas Frank has taken to life at Tottenham pretty easily, and the return of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday gives the Dane an opportunity to hand out significant minutes to fringe players.
It has been an impressive start for Frank, which began with a narrow Super Cup final defeat to PSG on penalties.
A record of 10 points after five Premier League matches sees Spurs 3rd in the table, and a 1-0 win on their return to the Champions League last week against Villarreal.
Whilst Tottenham have slipped up against multiple lower league opposition over the years, the manager will be confident that he can rotate his side, and still avoid adding Doncaster to the list of teams to have knocked them out of a domestic cup competition.
Colchester United, Norwich City, and Sheffield United will always come to mind for Spurs fans before a fixture like this.
Mathys Tel
Mathys Tel has had a tough start to life at Tottenham.
After being thrown into the deep end in an injury-hit Ange Postecoglou side last season and registering only three goal contributions thus far, Tel has struggled for minutes and confidence since arriving from Bayern Munich in January.
Being left out of Thomas Frank’s Champions League squad raised further eyebrows surrounding the decision to make his loan deal permanent in the summer.
However, there is no denying Tel has bags of potential, and progress is not always linear for footballers.
A goal contribution every 91 minutes for Bayern across 69 matches by August 2024 is no mean feat for a teenager.
Tel was given a surprise start up front against West Ham a fortnight ago. But he was an unused sub most recently against Brighton.
Facing Doncaster gives Tel the opportunity to continue to prove his doubters wrong, at home against a League One side, potentially providing him with a platform to score and boost his confidence moving forward.
Kevin Danso
Kevin Danso has proved to be a very useful addition since arriving from RC Lens for £21 million.
He is often making solid substitute appearances, as seen in Spurs’ 1-0 Europa League final win against Manchester United and the Super Cup final defeat, when he entered the pitch as Spurs attempted to see the game out.
New captain Cristian Romero and fellow star centre back Micky Van de Ven are undoubtedly two of Europe’s best in their position.
But the last two seasons have shown a glaring trend of both missing a large portion of the season through injury.
Spurs fans will be hoping under Thomas Frank that injuries will be fewer and further between moving forward. But this fixture against Doncaster looks like a perfect one for Danso to be given a rare start.
With four competitions to fight for, injuries to Radu Dragusin and Kota Takai, along with Luka Vuskovic heading out on loan. Frank should definitely start Danso in this fixture.
Antonin Kinsky
Having made a surprise arrival in January, Antonin Kinsky said: “I am a big dreamer, but this dream I have never dreamt” after his stunning debut and clean sheet in the League Cup semi-final 1st leg against Liverpool last season.
However, since this match, Kinsky has only made another seven appearances for Spurs, with Guglielmo Vicario the clear number one goalkeeper at the club.
Frank said that Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Brighton was “our most complete performance of the season so far”. He also said that Vicario “will be kicking himself, he wants to save that one” on Brighton’s long-range second goal.
Vicario has had an impressive start to the season. Frank is a manager who puts huge importance on defensive structure and set pieces, an area in which the Italian has often looked erratic.
Most Spurs fans would agree that Kinsky should start in goal against Doncaster. He is much more confident in possession than Vicario and possesses a much more expansive passing range, and Vicario’s error at the Amex Stadium will give Kinsky extra fuel to impress the new head coach.