Two of the early strugglers in League One meet this weekend when Bristol Rovers host Accrington Stanley at the Mem, and the visitors intend to bolster their attacking options before heading to BS7.
Stanley boss John Coleman is eager to acquire more firepower with his team mustering 10 goals in the opening nine games of the season, and they are set to make an offer for veteran forward Nathan Delfouneso this week.
Delfouneso, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Bradford City, is a free agent after being released by Bolton Wanderers in the summer. According to Alan Nixon, Accrington are set to table a contract offer for the out-of-work 31-year-old.
The well-travelled forward has racked up more than 400 career appearances after coming through the ranks at Aston Villa, where he scored nine goals and earned 18 England under-21 caps.
Since his final appearance for Villa in 2012/13, Delfouneso has become quite the journeyman, with three spells at Blackpool as well as stints at Burnley, Leicester City, Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, Bury and Swindon Town.
He scored eight goals in his first season with Bolton as they secured promotion back to League One in 2020/21, but his second year with the Trotters proved to be one of frustration, with his only two goals coming in the EFL Trophy before he moved to Valley Parade on loan in January, where he only made six appearances without scoring.
Accrington rose to 17th in League One on Saturday thanks to their 1-0 home win over Cheltenham Town. Rovers are 21st in the table following the 6-3 beating by Lincoln City at the Mem.
Rovers boss Joey Barton, meanwhile, has also indicated he is eager to sign a free agent forward, revealing last week he had been made aware of an appealing option. There have been no developments since.
“I’d closed that down in my own mind," he said on September 15. "But then at about 7 o’clock last night I got a phone call, ‘do you know such and such?’ and they gave me a bit of information that I didn’t know and it definitely made my ears pick up,” Barton said.
“And I went, ‘okay, that could work for us’. I’m not going to tell you who it is because it might not happen but I’ve got a phone call to make just to sound someone out and say, ‘I’ve heard this, does this sit with your worldview?’
“It’s someone who’s on the free market. What happens is lads out of contract in September, you become more appealing after (the deadline)."
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