Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Defender Clarke is sidelined once more
TREVOR Clarke’s frustrating spell at Bristol Rovers goes on – with the defender now ruled out for up to six weeks after having groin surgery.
The defender has been dogged by an injury that he suffered on the opening day of the campaign at Mansfield, restricting the 23-yearold to just six appearances in all competitions.
The former Rotherham left-back last played in Rovers’ FA Cup defeat at Peterborough on January 8 and manager Joey Barton has confirmed the Irishman faces another long stint on the sidelines.
“He’s had surgery again on his groin,” Barton said. “He’s just come back, he had it done two days ago.
“He’s probably looking at four to six weeks. It’s disrupted him again and I feel sorry for Trevor, he just hasn’t had a run of fitness and form.
“Trevor and Junior (Brown) were brought in to compete for left-back and left wing-back, and that hasn’t transpired. Not every transfer goes how you would imagine it to go.
“I’m disappointed for the lads because they’re good lads, but at the end of the day this is a business and I’ve got to do the best thing for the team and I’ve got to get every single pound that we invest in the team helping us on a matchday, and at this moment in time Trevor and Junior aren’t in a position because of their injuries to be able to do that.”
With Clarke injured and Brown likely to be moved on before this Monday’s transfer deadline, leftback could be a position of interest in the market for the Pirates.
Glenn Whelan is set to be back in the squad to face Walsall today after missing two games due to a family bereavement. Sam Finley, however, is a doubt with the midfielder went for a scan on Thursday.
He limped out of Tuesday’s win at Scunthorpe with a groin injury and is rated a 50/50 chance to play on Saturday, pending the results of the scan.
Harvey Saunders will be involved, though, after being given the allclear to return to full training. He has not played since October due to ankle ligament damage, and his return was delayed further by fracturing a bone in his hand soon after he was back in training.
The forward travelled as the spare man on Tuesday and he is set to be elevated to the playing squad at the Memorial Stadium today.
Barton said: “He’s obviously chomping at the bit to get involved. He travelled with the squad and was the 19th man on Tuesday, just to get him back in the feel of it.
“He was fuming that he wasn’t in the matchday squad, which is classic Harvey. He’s a great kid.
“After the game, he was like ‘I would’ve scored a hat-trick there’, and I can’t say he wouldn’t have. He’s a nuisance and that last 20 minutes of the game when big Leon (Clarke) came on, Harvey’s pace would have been a real asset for us.
“Thankfully he’s got the okay from the surgeon now to be back in full contact and full training, so he comes back into the squad, as does Alex Rodman, who’s back on the periphery of it.
“I’m really pleased. We’ve got some bodies and key components coming back to fitness.”