Gemma Donnelly is hoping her side can ‘put on a performance’ as Ewood Park plays host to their FA Women’s Championship clash with Coventry United on Sunday (2pm).

Despite a sticky start to the season, that saw them lose each of their opening four league matches after promotion, Donnelly believes things will soon start looking up having toppled title-favourites, and previously unbeaten, Durham last time out.

Rovers’ promotion application was finally accepted in the summer, having won the Northern Premier Division Title for a third successive year, though Donnelly admits they were caught on the hop in terms of recruitment given the amount of work needed to ready themselves for life in the second tier.

But with new faces integrated, and star striker Natasha Flint back fit, Donnelly is hopeful things will start clicking ahead of the visit of Coventry United who are one place behind them in the stan

“It’s massive. Of course it’s not our home ground but it’s our home,” Donnelly said of playing at Ewood.

“The girls love playing at Ewood, it’s a beautiful pitch, and when we’re invited to play at Ewood the club really pull out all of the stops and make us feel really welcome. The girls really appreciate it.

“Hopefully they can put on a performance for the people who take their time to come and support us.

“A couple of weeks ago we played Durham away in the league and I would suggest that was the strongest starting XI. we had and with a full bench of game-changers and we were in a much better position. It was no surprise that we came away with a result.”

Rovers’ home games, usually staged at Bamber Bridge’s Sir Tom Finney Stadium, have attracted crowds in excess of 500 so far this season, with Donnelly hoping to get more through the gates for Sunday’s game at Ewood.

“We have plenty more targets to hit and it’s about getting them down and when they do I’m sure they will be hooked,” she added.

“As the results would suggest we’ve not been picking up the results but I can assure you that they have been tight games, and if we can more fans through the door I’m confident that we can keep them.”

Rovers were all-conquering in the third tier, winning the league for three consecutive years as well as completing the quadruple last term after lifting the county cup, league cup, and play-off final.

Donnelly says the step up in level hasn’t come as a surprise, insisting: “It’s very new, very exciting.

“As the results have suggested it’s been tough adapting to the league above but it’s nothing that we didn’t anticipate.

“We have taken some time in order to asses our new platform but I am super confident relatively soon, if not this weekend, we will start to gather some momentum.”

With training hours upped, Donnelly has seen the majority of last season’s record-breaking squad sign on, with three players arriving from Linfield, goalkeeper Fran Stenson on loan and Rhema Lord-Mears from Anderlecht.

Donnelly is still looking to add to her squad, but believes the quality is now there after a difficult start to the recruitment drive.

She said: “Not making excuses, but with recruitment we were very slow off the mark because there was so much (else) to do.

“We were reliant on players continuing from last season and a large percentage have stuck together in this league.

“We needed to bolster the squad, not with bodies but quality, and that’s still ongoing.

“We are in a healthy position now where we’ve got both numbers and quality and we are starting to see that come through.

“Early in the season we were reliant on players from the development squad stepping up, our star striker picked up an injury on the opening day that ruled her out for five or six weeks, and that does impact on what you have got available to put on the pitch.

“It was tough, but that is a lesson learned.”

Rovers have continued to support the Ladies side, through the use of playing facilities as well as finance, and Donnelly says Ewood playing host to a league game is a big occasion.

“The club have been fantastic, not just this year but in previous seasons as well and they have really come on board since the promotion,” she said.

“Playing at Ewood is just a small part of that in terms of the club finances, the support we get internally. We now train down at the Academy at Brockhall and use the Senior Training Centre as well for our nightly sessions.

“We have use of the club’s resources, we are based at the club, and there is a lot of work that goes in to it.

“We now have 40 members of staff, over 120 Elite players, seven age groups, and all of that needs looking after.”

  • Tickets are priced at £3 for adults and concessions, and £2 for Under-18s, available from the Roverstore, online, or by calling 01254 372000. Adult prices rise to £5 if bought after 3pm on Saturday.