Doncaster Knights confident of pulling off shock against Bristol to reach Premiership
DONCASTER will attempt to overcome a massive financial imbalance when they take on Bristol at their Castle Park ground for a place in the Premiership tomorrow night.
Michael Heaney returned to Doncaster Knights from Ulster in August 2015
The most-promoted club in English league history, who started out life in lowly North Two, aim to take an unlikely final step into the top flight despite operating on only a fifth of the budget of their wealthy opponents.
After beating Bristol on aggregate over the two regular-season meetings, Doncaster's cut-price collective - put together for £700,000 - are quietly confident of pulling off a shock over the two-legged play-off final.
"We've shown we've got the game to beat them," said scrum-half Michael Heaney. "We know they've got some very good players, but we've got a fantastic group of lads and while we might not have big names, we've got a tremendous team spirit."
Bristol, who have lost the last two play-off finals, are without the injured Gavin Henson but director of rugby Andy Robinson can still call upon seven internationals for the first leg.