SAM Allardyce might think twice about ringing too many changes for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Doncaster.

The Whites boss is famed for shuffling his pack in the early rounds of knockout competitions, but Rovers are building something of a reputation themselves, as giant-killers - even against full-strength Premiership teams.

Manchester City and Aston Villa discovered that to their cost last season when they were dumped out of the Carling Cup while Arsenal had a major scare before they narrowly avoided becoming the third top-flight club to come a cropper at Belle Vue.

Wanderers will at least have the advantage of playing in the more salubrious setting of Doncaster's newly-opened Keepmoat Stadium, where their appearance is likely to attract a near-capacity crowd. The last of the 2,000 tickets allocated to Bolton fans were snapped up yesterday.

But Big Sam could be playing with fire, if he repeats the selection shake-up that looked risky but turned out to be a carefully-calculated gamble at Watford at the same third round stage last season.

On the face of it, seven changes appeared to be a dangerous ploy against the promotion-chasing Championship side, but the weakened Wanderers were altogether too powerful and too talented for Aidy Boothroyd's Hornets. Allardyce even had the luxury of indulging in a bit of sentimentality when he gave academy keeper and boyhood Bolton fan, Sam Ashton, the last couple of minutes up front with the game safely in the bag at 3-0.

The form book suggests in-form Doncaster - beaten just once in their last 14 games and unbeaten at home since Sean O'Driscoll succeeded Dave Penney as manager in September - are unlikely to be quite so easily disposed of.

Although minnows compared to the likes of Watford, the little club from South Yorkshire have big ambitions and have built a reputation as a force to be reckoned with as they have risen, Phoenix-like, from five seasons of Conference football. And they don't appear to let the excitement of their giant-killing exploits distract them from their relentless rise up the league ladder.

Four seasons ago they were languishing in the Conference, today they are just three points away from a play-off position in League One. They have even taken a change of manager in their stride.

Penney, who led Rovers to successive promotions and took them to their highest league placing for 50 years at the same time as masterminding last season's remarkable run to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, was a hard act to follow when he left in August to look for a new challenge.

But O'Driscoll, a Bournemouth legend who did such an impressive job in six management years at Dean Court, has maintained the momentum that swept Rovers into their spanking new stadium on the crest of a winning wave.

They celebrated the opening of the Keepmoat Stadium with a 3-0 win over Yorkshire rivals, Huddersfield, in a game in which Bolton referee Mark Halsey showed three red cards - one of which means Rovers defender Gareth Roberts will be unavailable for the cup tie.

O'Driscoll's team was ruthlessly efficient with top scorer Paul Heffernan scoring for the sixth time in his last seven appearances.

The continued progress of the club Wanderers last came up against in 1987, when they were both struggling in the old Third Division, suggests that chairman, John Ryan, chose well when he offered O'Driscoll the chance to carry on where Penney had left off.

Appointing O'Driscoll and his sidekick Richard O'Kelly, Ryan said at the time: "They stood out in terms of innovation, quality and achievement on a limited budget. They have also developed a team who play the type of passing football which was a pre-requisite to qualify for the job at this club."