No goals at Belle Vue

Defences were on top in a Third Division goalless stalemate between Doncaster and Hull in which both sides cancelled each other out.

Hull made the brighter start but Doncaster took control after the interval at Belle Vue.

Danny Allsopp had a couple of chances to fire Hull in front early on following mistakes by Tim Ryan but failed to take advantage of either.

Rovers keeper Andy Warrington made a superb save to deny Stuart Green in the 12th minute as Hull ran riot in the early stages.

But Rovers gradually gained a grip in midfield and came back into the game, with Ryan heading just wide from a 38th-minute corner.

Rovers were unable to snatch the goal their second-half display merited, with Jamie Paterson scooping a shot over the bar and John Doolan having a cracking 20-yarder deflected just wide two minutes from time.

Reading chairman John Madejski is confident he can hang onto highly-rated manager Alan Pardew despite rebuffing two approaches for him from West Ham.

The Hammers have singled out Pardew as the man at the top of their shortlist to replace Glenn Roeder but they are getting short shrift from Madejski, who is determined to keep Pardew no matter what pressure he comes under.

“The point is we have an agreement and a contract and I very much think contracts should be adhered to,” he said.

“The contract quite clearly states that if he is approached by a Premier League club that is fine but if he is approached by a Division One club then he is not allowed to go as that would be considered the opposition.”

The Football League have given crisis-hit Notts County a three-month stay of execution after threatening to expel the oldest professional club in the world.

A meeting of the League’s board of directors in London mulled over the details of the latest in a series of takeover plans designed to haul the 141-year-old Meadow Lane club out of the administration it has endured since June 2002.

The League’s seven-man board of directors, chaired by Brian Mawhinney, had threatened to expel the club unless they were provided with evidence of significant headway.

That threat has now been suspended until December 9, but should The Magpies fail to emerge from administration by that date, the club will be expelled, its record expunged and the club finishing 21st in Division Two reprieved from relegation.

Mawhinney said: “Whilst company administration is principally a matter for the courts, it remains the League’s duty to ensure insolvency procedures do not distort fair competition between clubs.

“Clubs in administration derive a competitive advantage over their rivals by virtue of being protected from their historic debt and such a situation cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.”

Coventry have dismissed reports striker Fabrizio Ravanelli is poised to join the club on a two-year deal.