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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
David Byrom

Bristol Rovers to hand chance to striker at Rochdale after impressive FA Youth Cup display

Young Bristol Rovers striker Kieran Phillips will be included in the first-team squad for this weekend's trip to Rochdale.

The Gas' strikers have struggled for goals recently, particularly after an injury to star attacker Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Yet Rovers do have some young options available to them up front.

Deon Moore scored for the Gas' under-23s against Portsmouth on Tuesday, whilst, on the same day, Phillips scored a brace in the under-18s' 3-1 FA Youth Cup win over Swindon Town.

Manager Graham Coughlan was impressed with Phillips' performance, and is set to take the youngster up to Spotland with the Gas on Saturday.

He said: "Deon is in and around us, he played on Tuesday against Pompey and has been in with the first-team for a while now.

"I gave him his debut last season at Doncaster Rovers away, so he's been in and around us for a while and I'm asking him to push on to improve his game.

"He knows what he needs to do and what he needs to work on.

"There were also some very positive performances the other night in the youth set-up.

"Kieran Phillips will be in the squad this weekend, he'll have a first look at the first team today and tomorrow, then he'll be in our squad this weekend.

"It's nice that we have some competition and some young lads knocking on the door, and there were another couple of the youth team boys who played the other night that really caught the eye as well.

"That side of the club is looking healthy and hopefully we can get one or two of them through and into the first team and forge careers for themselves."

Get lots more news, opinion and transfer updates on our dedicated Bristol Rovers page and add a bookmark to find it quickly next time.

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