Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has revealed striker Leon Clarke and centre-back Alfie Kilgour could be in contention to feature against Sutton United on Tuesday night, but January signings Jon Nolan and Ryan Loft will have to remain patient before they're brought into the matchday environment.
Veteran striker Clarke hasn't played since scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory over Scunthorpe United on January 25, which marked his recovery from a hamstring injury but after maintaining caution over the 37-year-old's condition, he could make the squad for the League Two clash.
The Gas started Aaron Collins through the middle against Mansfield Town on Saturday and had the mobile Harvey Saunders on the bench but with Ryan Loft continuing to be sidelined with a back problem, Clarke does represent a handy Plan B for the Rovers manager should be deemed fit enough to be involved.
"Clarkey has got a chance," Barton said. "He trained with us for the first time on Friday and came through the training session absolutely fine. He wanted to be involved Saturday but I’ve got to listen to the medical people on that.
"It would have been nice to have him for the last 20, we certainly could have done with him. He’s got a squeak for being involved Tuesday from the bench.
"Lofty is probably going to be nearer the weekend if not beyond that. But it depends who you ask. If you ask the players, they’ll say a lot closer than our medical staff.
"But we’re getting there. We just need that consistent team selection. It would be nice to have the spine of the team and be able to go same again. But I don’t know whether the fixtures will allow that and I don’t think we’ll be able to get that in the next few weeks.
"But as soon as we start getting that, I think we’ll start to see what this team is capable of."
Building that spine could also include Kilgour who has been out since mid-January with swelling around his knee but after delivering a prognosis of 7-10 days last week in the build-up to the Oldham game, providing he came through Monday's training session unscathed, he gives his manager another option in the centre of defence.
The game against Sutton will come too soon for deadline day arrival Nolan and utility man Josh Grant, however, who have been training but the Gas boss is mindful of bringing them into the squad too early in their recovery and Saturday's fixture at Stevenage looks more likely at this stage.
"They’re all back on the grass," Barton added. "They’re all training. It’s probably too close for Josh due to him having an injection in his knee, Saturday might be more realistic for him.
"Nolo is chomping at the bit but we just want to get a good body of training under his belt so that when we get him we don’t chop and change. He could have a squeak for Tuesday, but again might be Saturday.
"Alf’s joined back in with the group for the first time so he could possibly come into contention, but we’ll assess that on Monday after training."
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