Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Setbacks a major blow to Rovers boss Barton
JOEY Barton’s hope that he would have Alex Rodman, Alfie Kilgour and Josh Grant back for Bristol Rovers’ pivotal Sky Bet League One game at Northampton Town this afternoon have been dashed after the trio suffered late setbacks in their recovery.
Speaking after Rovers’ win over Doncaster on Monday, Barton was hopeful veteran winger Rodman, centre-back Kilgour and defensive midfielder Grant would all be in contention, but circumstances have dictated otherwise.
Rodman, who has been out since playing against AFC Wimbledon on March 13 due to a muscle injury, has not trained all week after suffering a bout of diarrhoea, losing significant weight which, on the flip-side, does mean he should return next Saturday against Lincoln City.
Defender Kilgour, meanwhile, remains in discomfort with an ankle injury, while the news on Grant is worse, with the 22-year-old likely to be out for the rest of the season due to a foot problem.
“Rodders has had diarrhoea this week, so he hasn’t even trained and has lost a considerable amount of weight, so that means he’s a no-go for the game,” Barton said.
“Alf thought he had a chance, but I spoke to him yesterday and he’s still really sore so he’s going to be out.
“Josh’s foot hasn’t settled, so he will be out, he could be out for the rest of the season.
“I’m good at loads of things, but Reiki (Japanese palm-healing), stuff like that, I’m not into it. That’s something I need to add to my arsenal during the course of the off-season!”
As a result, Barton could select an unchanged line-up for the game at
Sixfields, with the 11 men who began the Doncaster game having earned the right to keep their places.
The only concern Barton could have, which could influence a selection change, would be to bring Jonah Ayunga back into the fold for extra size in defending set-pieces.
Northampton are the lowest scoring team in the division, with 33, but 14 have come directly from setpieces, accounting for 42 percent of all their goals.
“They’re not big scorers in the division, but when they do it tends to come from a restart or a set-piece,” Barton added, with Rovers training at the Mem on yesterday before departing for Northamptonshire.
“It’s somewhere we will have to shift a bit of our focus on.
“But, again, we believe in open play and certainly myself as a coach, I do make slight adjustments, ingame and in the build-up to games. But also a lot of my focus is on our team, the team we’re going to put out and what we do. If we do what we believe we can do, we can cause any team problems.”
While a Rovers victory against a relegation rival would guarantee a jump out of the drop zone, fellowstrugglers Swindon have a more difficult task with second-placed Peterborough the visitors to the County Ground this afternoon.
Following two victories that lifted them out of the relegation zone, the Robins have lost two on the bounce and sit above the safety line on goals scored alone. Rovers fans will hope their former striker Jonson ClarkeHarris can star for the Posh.