Doncaster can make history by storming the

DONCASTER manager Grant McCann claims it “sounds mad” to be within one game of reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

But the former Northern Ireland international insists his League One side will not be intimidated by facing Premier League outfit Crystal Palace in front of the TV cameras at a sold-out Keepmoat Stadium tomorrow.

Rovers have banked around £400,000 in prize money by reaching the fifth round for the first time since 1956 and will earn a further £360,000 if they make the last eight.

A £250,000 Progress Prize from the EFL is also on offer for the club from each division which goes furthest in the competition.

“It’s the first time the club’s been to this stage in 63 years and we’ve got a chance to make history, not equal history, by getting to the quarter-final,” McCann said.

“It sounds mad but we have absolutely nothing to lose. My message to the players is ‘go and give it everything you have. Your family is in the stands watching you and make them proud’.

“The belief is high, the confidence is high and whatever way this game goes it’s not going to affect the boys for the rest of the season. This is a one-off game for us where we can go and try to express ourselves and see how we get on.

“Everybody in the camp is buzzing. People are struggling to get tickets, and a packed Keepmoat, like we saw this season with the Sunderland game, gen- erates a terrific atmosphere.”

McCann feels it is one of those matches in which his players have nothing to lose, and no matter the result, they can hold their heads up high.

“Right from when I first came in we wanted to have a good cup run, the FA Cup was one of the priorities,” added McCann, who has no fresh injury concerns.

“The league is the main focus, but this is a bonus. No-one outside of our football club expects us to do anything, so we can have a go at it.

“It’s all about us. I could sit down with the boys and show them a two-hour video of Crystal Palace and they would walk away from the training ground petrified by some of the pace in their team, so it’s not about that.

“It’s about us playing our game, and if it’s good enough, great. If it’s not, at least we have no regrets in terms of the way we want to approach the game.”

Palace are one of just four teams to beat leaders Manchester City in the Premier League this season, while they also