Darren Bond is the man in the middle for Dale’s home game against Doncaster on Saturday.

The Wigan whistler is in his fourth season on the league list and has made such good progress that he took charge of Sheffield United v Swindon in last term’s play-offs and is a regular at Championship fixtures.

Darren also refereed Hartlepool v Derby and Bury v Hull in rounds three and four of this season’s FA Cup.

Dale last saw Darren at the 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe in December, while just over a year ago he was the man in the middle for our forgettable 3-0 loss at Oldham.

Before that he had refereed the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie at home to Fleetwood in September 2012, which Dale won on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

So far this term, Darren has refereed 29 games, showing 91 yellow cards and two red. His last game was Bradford v Millwall on Easter Saturday.

Photo: Action Images

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