Lewis Gibson has been ruled out of Bristol Rovers' trip to Derby County with a groin injury, Joey Barton has revealed.
Centre-back Gibson, in-form striker Ryan Loft and utility man Harry Anderson are all absent for Saturday's game at Pride Park with muscle injuries, with Luca Hoole and Luke McCormick coming into the starting XI.
Loft (hamstring) and Anderson (groin) were forced off during the game at Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, but Gibson's absence is a surprise and Gas manager Barton believes he could miss a couple of games.
"He just had a little bit of a tight groin after the push last week against Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday," Barton told BBC Radio Bristol. He was touch and go and he did join in training yesterday, but he never moved quite at the level we want and the last thing we want is to come here with players less than 100 per cent because Derby are a good side and we’ll be tested today.
"Lofty just felt his hamstring a little bit, so he’ll probably miss a couple of games, hopefully, and Gibbo might be the same, but they are not a million miles away and it’s an opportunity for Hooley to show what he can do.
"Harry felt his groin in the game at the back end. We had to take him out and he’s tweaked a bit of his groin, so it’s a bit of a blow.
"With Paul Coutts and John Marquis, we’ve got a couple out today, but we’ve got enough components to give a good account of ourselves."
Rovers XI vs Derby (4-3-1-2): Belshaw; Gibbons, Hoole, Thomas, Gordon; Finley, Rossiter, McCormick; Evans; Collins, Coburn.
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