Ben Garner has given an update on the fitness of his Bristol Rovers squad ahead of the visit to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
The Gas boss gave mixed news on the progress of some of his players at Friday's press conference.
Alex Rodman
The 33-year-old wing-back is yet to play a minute of competitive action this season after suffering an ear infection, which has then instigated bouts of vertigo which has had a massive impact on his training schedule.
Garner told Bristol Live there has been "no improvement" and Rodman remains sidelined.
"It’s very frustrating from his point of view and very frustrating from our point of view," Garner said.
"It’s frustrating in that we literally can’t do anything. It’s just a case and waiting and seeing when it improves.
"He can have good days and then bad days where he suffers with vertigo and can’t train and can’t do anything. He is climbing the walls, but as soon as that does clear up we will get him back into the fold as quickly as possible.
"I had a good chat with him this week. Mentally he is a really strong character and even he has had struggles and frustrations with it now. I think it’s a case of us as a club and a staff supporting Alex and trying to help him through those frustrations."
Josh Barrett
The playmaker had rotten luck in the opening pre-season fixture, injuring his hamstring. He has missed almost two months of action, but is making good progress in training with the under-23s.
He was due to play in a friendly game on Tuesday, but it was cancelled. Regardless, the manager has been encouraged by his progress.
Garner said: "Josh had been returning well and would have been on course with that, but unfortunately we couldn’t go ahead with the fixture this week.
"But he’s certainly closing in on full fitness and being able to play games."
Sam Nicholson
Summer signing Nicholson suffered a calf injury in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland a fortnight ago which forced him out of the Ipswich Town defeat last Saturday.
The 25-year-old winger is back in training, but tomorrow's game may come too soon for him.
"Sam Nicholson ran for the first time yesterday, which was great," Garner said.
"We’ll see how he is today and if he can feature on Saturday. It might be too soon for him, but we’ll assess that today."
Tom Davies
Garner has been pleased by the centre-back's progress after a serious knee injury, but a return to full training remains a few months away.
