Bristol Rovers have been given a trip injury boost following the news three of their most influential players have been passed fit for the weekend’s trip to Lincoln City.
Jonson Clarke-Harris, Ed Upson and Liam Sercombe are all back training and will be available for selection for the trip to Sincil Bank.
The club’s top scorer this season, striker Clarke-Harris, picked up an ankle knock in the 3-3 draw with Accrington Stanley at the Memorial Stadium where he scored a brace of goals including a stunning overhead bicycle kick.
With no midweek game on Tuesday night for the first time this season, manager Graham Coughlan has used the opportunity to give his players a rest before resuming training.
Speaking about Clarke-Harris on Thursday morning he said: “He seems fine, he’s available to train, so we’ll assess him and have a look at him and like I say manager’s curse, so I’ll have a look at him this morning. I might be able to answer that one more clearly in a few hours when we come off the training ground, but at this moment in time he’s training.”
Upson missed the game against Accrington on Saturday after being withdrawn with muscle tightness in the 1-1 EFL Trophy draw at Plymouth Argyle on September 3, while Sercombe has not played since the 2-0 defeat to Coventry City on August 17 when he was withdrawn around the hour mark with a groin injury.
Coughlan continued: “We’ve had a few bumps and bruises. We’ve had Ed Upson and Liam Sercombe both on the training ground this week, which is positive.
“We’ve not got anything of any significance apart from the two long term injuries, Sammy Matthews and Tareiq Holmes-Dennis. But it’s a clean bill of health, fingers crossed, this week.
"We’ve got to go out and train this morning and tomorrow, so let’s hope that that stays the same. It’s relatively positive, and as I’ve said we pick up bumps and bruises but that’s part and parcel of any game of football and part and parcel of any 10-game period in such a short amount of time.
Asked whether Sercombe and Upson will be available for selection this weekend, Coughlan said: “They’ll travel with us, there’s no big secrets we haven’t got that big of a squad, so yeah, they’ll be in the squad this weekend.”
