Thomas Robert Anderson (born 2 September 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League Two club Doncaster Rovers.
[5] He was captain of the Burnley side that reached the semi-finals of the 2011–12 FA Youth Cup, however, he missed the tail end of the season due to a bout of Infectious mononucleosis.
[7] In August 2012, he signed for Conference Premier side Barrow on loan until January 2013, along with fellow Burnley player Joe Jackson.
Barrow manager David Bayliss looked into extending his loan deal but Anderson returned to Burnley in January, having made 21 appearances for the club.
[11] He returned to Burnley late in February, having only made four appearances for Scott McNiven's "Tigers", after his loan was cut short due to a knee ligament injury he picked up in a 5–1 defeat at Alfreton Town.
[11] It proved to be his only league appearance for the "Shaymen" as he struggled to get into the team due to the good form of other players, and he returned to Burnley in January.
[28] However, four days later he received his second red card of the season in a 2–1 defeat by Bury at the Proact Stadium ; after the match manager Gary Caldwell said that "you're a defender, it's going to happen".
[32] He made his debut for the "Valiants" on 12 September as captain Antony Kay was dropped, and Anderson was praised for his performance despite the team suffering a 2–0 defeat at Luton Town.
[33] Despite being signed to the "Valiants" by Michael Brown, Anderson initially struggled for games and only actually went on to establish himself as an important part of the first-team under new manager Neil Aspin, forming an effective centre-back partnership with Nathan Smith.
[37] After scoring twice in Doncaster's 3–0 victory over Fleetwood Town at the Keepmoat Stadium on 17 February, he made the EFL Team of the Week.
[38] However, he was sidelined for two months after fracturing his cheekbone in a 2–1 defeat at Rotherham United seven days later; "Donny" manager Darren Ferguson said that "It's a bad injury but it could've been worse in many ways.
[44] The 2019–20 campaign was described as a "breakout season" for Anderson by Doncaster Free Press reporter Liam Hoden, who wrote that he had "rarely been unduly troubled by an opposition forward" and was unmatched in aerial duels whilst his positioning skills had greatly improved.
[45] Anderson performed excellently throughout the 2020–21 campaign, improving his distribution skills whilst maintaining his tackling and positional ability.
[46] Speaking in March, he said that he wanted the team to get interim manager Andy Butler's career off to a good start as he was well-liked and respected in the dressing room.
[50] However, Anderson missed the second half of the 2021–22 season, with new manager Gary McSheffrey confirming that a plantar fascia injury in his foot kept causing him to break down.