Ex-Aston Villa trainee Byfield was surprisingly released by Robins boss Gary Johnson following Bristol City's unsuccessful play-off campaign – despite the striker finishing the season as the club's leading marksman.

The much-travelled hitman is Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll's second summer signing, following on from last weeks acquisition of former Bournemouth and Burnley midfielder John Spicer.

After putting pen to paper on a two-year deal with the club – the 12th of his career so far – Byfield was in bouyant mood: "I'm delighted to have signed for Doncaster. It's a good club that has just been promoted to the Championship.

"Donny being in the Championship is a big thing and with the football that is being played here – I wanted to be a part of it."

The signing of players with a proven pedigree at Championship level – and particularly a striker – was seen as a necessity by many Rovers fans, and the signing of Byfield bolsters the club's attacking options, and increases the pressure to perform on the club's current forwards Lewis Guy, James Hayter and Paul Heffernan.

Also on the transfer front, the club are in the market for a new centre-back following the close-season departures of Graeme Lee and Steve Roberts, and boss Sean O'Driscoll has admitted that the escalating prices of home-grown talent have forced him to cast his net far and wide in search of defensive reinforcements.

"Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, German and Spanish, there are a lot of defenders available.

"Whether they are any good is a different story, but we will have a look at a few in pre-season."

Closer to home, the Rovers boss is also keen to tie members of last season's promotion-winning squad down to new deals.

Following last week's news that midfield pair Mark Wilson and Craig Nelthorpe had signed new contracts, the club are keen to tie midfield playmaker Brian Stock down to a similar deal, and discussions are said to be on-going.

Welshman Stock, who also starred for O'Driscoll at previous club Bournemouth, has pushed himself into the fringes of his country's international set-up with his form for Doncaster during last season's successful campaign.

The midfielder was an almost ever-present for the club last season, contributing six vital goals in 43 league appearances, and will be keen to prove to former club Preston that he can cut it at Championship level, following a largely unsuccessful spell with the club back in 2006.

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