Western Daily Press (Saturday)
HANLAN A DOUBT FOR THE PIRATES – BARTON
BRISTOL Rovers top scorer Brandon Hanlan is “touch and go” to play against Shrewsbury this afternoon, new Pirates boss Joey Barton has revealed.
The striker went off in the final ten minutes of Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Wigan and did not train on Thursday due to a sore Achilles.
Hanlan is Rovers’ leading scoring with eight goals in all competitions, and it took Barton little time after his appointment on Monday to publicly make clear how much he admires the 23-year-old.
The former Gillingham forward has endured a lean run in front of goal since the turn of the year, but he is central to Rovers’ hopes of avoiding relegation and they could choose to protect him today to ensure he is fit for the run in.
“He hasn’t trained so far this week, so I’ll see the physio, Miles (Warren), and have a chat with him,” Barton revealed. “He’s going to be touch and go by the look of it, and he may have to miss one or two games to play the other 15.
“They are the decisions we’re going to have to make. He’s a big player for us and a real focal point of the front side of the team. We’ve got to protect him at all costs.
“There’s a war on Saturday, but there’s bigger battles coming down the line.
“If this was the last game of the season or an FA Cup final, I’m sure Brandon would take an injection or whatever to nullify the pain, but we’ve got a duty of care to the player and his longevity. We’ve got a lot more at stake than just Saturday, albeit a massive game.
“We’ve got Jonah Ayunga and James Daly to come in and show me what they can do and maybe they will get their opportunity.
“It might be one of those things where you think you lose your starting number nine and all of a sudden somebody else takes that jersey and leaves it in a better place or makes it difficult for the player who’s lost the jersey to get back in.”
Josh Grant also missed training on Thursday, but was due to take part yesterday, and Barton offered more positive news on Anssi Jaakkola and club captain Max Ehmer.
Ehmer injured his shoulder in a training ground fall a fortnight ago but returned to the fold this week and is in contention to play.
Finland international Jaakkola has not played since December after damaging his Achilles tendon against Leyton Orient in the EFL Trophy, but the goalkeeper is close to being available for selection.
“Anssi said he thinks he’s alright to go,” added Barton.