One Direction's Louis Tomlinson swells Doncaster Rovers reserve gate

One Direction's Louis Tomlinson (second from left) in training with Doncaster Rovers ahead of his debut

Thousands of fans are expected to watch One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson make his debut for Doncaster Rovers' reserve side later.

The club said more than 4,000 tickets had been sold for the match against Rotherham United in aid of Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice.

Fans of the boy band are believed to be travelling from as far afield as Denmark, France and Italy to attend.

Yorkshireman Tomlinson joined Rovers on a non-contract basis last summer.

Doncaster Rovers spokesman Steve Uttley said the fixture had attracted huge interest.

'Training hard'

He said: "We've sold more than 4,000 tickets.

"The usual turnout for a match like this would be about 100."

He said the club would have a "full match-day complement" of security and stewards on duty to cope with the crowd.

Another club official said on Tuesday: "Louis has been training hard over the past month with Brian Flynn and the lads ahead of the game, including a long session today with the reserve players."

Tomlinson, 22, from Bessacarr, Doncaster, had to pull out of a Scunthorpe reserves game in September after suffering a leg injury when tackled by Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor in a charity match in Glasgow.