Bristol Rovers face League One transfer-tug-of-war to sign Swindon Town captain

Bristol Rovers are reportedly considering a move to prize Swindon Town captain Angus MacDonald away from the County Ground, but they face competition.

The Gas have yet to sign anyone in the January transfer window, despite being more than half-way and Joey Barton's plea to sign six new players. Bobby Thomas' swift move to Barnsley perhaps increases the need for Rovers to recruit a new defender given they also sold Alfie Kilgour to Mansfield Town last week.

A move has been touted for England Under-19 international Jarell Quansah, who Barton watched over last week when attending a Liverpool Under-21's match. Rovers have fully utilised the loan market when it comes to young players, but he admitted that he may need experience amongst his fairly youthful backline.

Despite their positive start to the season which has them situated in ninth, well above the early season expectations placed on them from outsiders, they possess the third worst defence in the league. Rovers have conceded 45 times this season, with only Burton Albion and Forest Green shipping more.

In a bid to plug a leaky defence, Football League World claim that Rovers along with their League One rivals Shrewsbury Town and Burton are interested in the experienced defender. They claim that they are amongst several terms in the third tier interested in MacDonald and that they could test Swindon's resolve before the end of the window. In an earlier report from Football League World, Swindon are listening to transfer offers for MacDonald.

MacDonald's experience has mainly come from the Championship and the National League. The 30-year-old played for Barnsley, Hull City and Rotherham United in the second tier whilst at Torquay United he featured in the National League. MacDonald's experience in League One stretches to just seven games when he was at Rotherham last season, spending most of the time out with a dislocated collarbone.

He has only been at Swindon since the summer but out of the 16 appearances he's made for the Robins, he captained them eight times. Swindon are currently without a manager following Liam Lindsay's departure to Crawley Town and so they may not entertain the idea of allowing one of their key players to depart until they find a successor. He has a two year contract with the Wiltshire club, and so they would expect a fee for him.