Cheltenham Town have failed in their bid to earn a glamour FA Cup tie with Aston Villa at Whaddon Road on Saturday after an injury-depleted side were knocked out at Doncaster last night.

Highly-rated Doncaster midfielder Brian Stock grabbed a goal either side of defender Sam Hird's effort to end the Robins' interest in the competition in convincing style in the third round replay at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Cheltenham manager Martin Allen will rue the opportunity missed by Lloyd Owusu minutes from the end of the initial clash at Whaddon Road last week and the failure of the referee on that occasion, Neil Swarbrick, to give what the manager claimed was a penalty.

Missed chances were a theme of this replay; Ashley Vincent guilty of two spurned chances in the opening period before Elvis Hammond and Jonny Hayes missed chances after the break.

Allen suffered a major blow before the game as midfielder Ian Westlake failed a fitness test for a hamstring injury. It left Allen with only 12 fit and eligible professionals.

There were five changes from the side that lost at Colchester on Saturday: recent loan signings Chris Westwood, Lewis Montrose and Nicholas Bignall (all ineligible) missing out, with Paul Connor and Westlake (both injured) also unavailable.

Defender Shane Duff made a welcome return after recovering from an Achilles' injury that has kept him out since the middle of September.

Andy Lindegaard, Elvis Hammond, Lloyd Owusu and David Bird were also drafted in to the patched up side.

Allen didn't even have enough players to fill his compliment of seven substitutes. On-loan Leicester wideman Jonny Hayes and goalkeeper Will Puddy the two full-time professionals on the bench alongside four youngsters.

Stock got his opening goal in the 25th minute with a simple tap-in after a Martin Woods free-kick rattled the crossbar and rebounded kindly off goalkeeper Scott Brown's back.

The Robins were further behind ten minutes later when defender Sam Hird bundled home from close-range after Brown had made a desperate stop with his legs to keep out a powerful John Spicer shot.

Vincent missed Cheltenham's best opportunity to halve the deficit on 40 minutes – pulling his shot wide of the far post when he should have at least hit the target.

Doncaster were guilty of overplaying at times during the early stages.

Their intricate use of the ball, however, did serve to create a couple of half chances with full-back James O'Connor and Spicer having efforts from distance.

Allen made an offensive change at the break: bringing on Jonny Hayes for Alan Wright in the hope that his attacking threat could help drag his side back into it.

Lee Ridley switched to left-back and a bright start garnered an early opportunity when midfielder David Bird saw a powerful shot deflected wide on 47 minutes.

The Robins continued on the front foot and Allen was left holding his head in his hands when Hammond volleyed over from close-range when, like Vincent earlier, he should have worked keeper Neil Sullivan.

Stock extinguished any hope of a Cheltenham fight back just moments later with a sublime drive from the edge of the penalty area through a crowd of players to put Doncaster three goals up.

Cheltenham should have had a consolation goal on 64 minutes when Hayes guiding a relatively simple headed opportunity wide at the far post from an Alex Russell set-piece.

With the game almost certainly out of reach, Allen used the final stages to give his youngsters a rare taste of first-team action.

Marley Watkins enjoyed a second first-team appearance while midfielder Jack Durrant was handed his professional debut as a replacement for David Bird for the final 12 minutes.

Stock almost capped a brilliant individual performance by hitting the crossbar with another vicious effort late on. Cheltenham couldn't even enjoy the solace of a consolation goal when Owusu and Hammond both saw their attempts to bundle the ball home cleared off the line. Still, the Robins will have to lick their wounds from this convincing defeat quickly. Instead of a glamour clash with Villa, they take on fellow League One relegation candidates Brighton at Whaddon Road on Saturday.

Doncaster Rovers (4-4-2): Sullivan; O'Connor, Mills (Lockwood 77), Hird, Chambers (Roberts 61); Spicer, Wellens, Stock, Woods; Coppinger (Heffernan 67), Guy. Subs: Taylor, Smith, Van Nieuwstadt, Wilson.

Cheltenham Town (4-3-3): Brown; Lindegaard, Gallinagh, Duff, Wright (Hayes 46); Bird (Durrant 78), Russell, Ridley; Vincent (Watkins 70), Owusu, Hammond. Subs: Puddy, Fathers, Maynard.