Joey Barton can see "light at the end of the tunnel" as Bristol Rovers' injury woes start to ease, although no players are due back to full fitness in time for Saturday's game against Accrington Stanley.
Rovers will benefit from the return of Bobby Thomas and Jordan Rossiter from suspension, but Josh Grant, Lewis Gibson, James Gibbons, James Connolly and Josh Coburn remain on the injury list.
Defenders Grant and Gibson are the closest to making a return from their respective knee and calf injuries, with full-back Gibbons not far behind as he recovers from a foot stress fracture. Centre-back Connolly is likely to be out for a little longer than the rest after sustaining a stress fracture in his back.
Barton's resources, therefore, remain depleted for Saturday's visit of Accrington to the Mem, but the Gas manager has a more optimistic outlook for the weeks ahead.
"Back on the grass," he said when asked about Grant and Gibson. "Trained, but not with us, so they are on the route map to come back but I don’t think they’re going to be available for Saturday’s game barring divine intervention.
"(Gibbons is) back on the grass as well, so a bit of a rehab group coming. Hopefully, we’re probably looking at two weeks before they can start pushing for first-team opportunities.
"I’ve even seen James Connolly out there, walking on the grass. He wasn’t running, but he’s back on the grass. You can see the troops starting to return, albeit it doesn’t really affect us for Saturday’s game, but you can see light at the end of the tunnel with those boys."
There is good news on striker Coburn, too. The 19-year-old joined Rovers on a season-long loan on deadline day earlier this month but has remained with parent club Middlesbrough as he recovers from a knee injury suffered in the opening game of the campaign.
"I think he’s due to come down next week," Barton revealed. "There were rumours he was going to join with us.
"He is finishing the end stage of his rehabilitation with their team and then we’ll get our hands on him, so that’s another bit of good news, albeit we haven’t seen him."
In the short term, Rovers' defensive ranks remain stretched. Thomas' return from suspension is welcome but Luca Hoole is away on international duty after being called up to play for Wales under-21s.
"Disappointing," Barton admitted. "Don’t tell the Welsh this, but I think he was wanting to stay because he knows we’re a bit light on bodies in that area.
"Fortunately or unfortunately, international gets priority and they want to call him up. It’s an incredible thing to represent your country and we don’t want to stop anybody doing that, albeit we probably could do with him this weekend.
"But we just have to make a plan and get a result with the others available."
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