Bristol Rovers injury news: Five ruled out and two 'getting closer' ahead of trip to Bolton Wanderers

Matt Taylor has given an update on his squad's fitness status ahead of Bristol Rovers' visit to Bolton Wanderers in League One on the weekend.

The Gas head into the fixture off the back of a 4-2 win in the FA Cup second-round away at Crewe Alexandra earlier this week. The victory meant that Taylor's side will now travel to Norwich City in the new year in the third-round of the competition. Saturday's opponents have been on an impressive run of late, however Wanderers were beaten 2-0 at Portsmouth in a top of the table clash earlier this week, leaving Saturday's hosts in second place, six points behind league leaders Pompey.

Rovers have a tough run of games coming up in the festive period, with another trip back up to the north-west after Saturday to play Blackpool, followed by a visit from Pompey on Boxing Day. Taylor will know that his side must be right at it if the Gas are to pick up any points over the Christmas period.

Here is Rovers' injury news ahead of Saturday's visit to the Toughsheet Community Stadium:

Jack Hunt: OUT

The full-back has been in great form this season, despite his injuries and Taylor is hoping the scan will give a clearer indication of the extent of his latest one. "He’s gone for a scan this afternoon and we'll get the results for that scan hopefully by the close of play tonight, if not first thing tomorrow morning, but it's looking unlikely that would be involved at the weekend."

James Gibbons: OUT

"Gibbo picked up the back injury on Monday, so we're assessing him on a daily basis, he's not recovered as quickly as we'd have maybe liked or hoped, so we'll assess him first thing in the morning but he's not out on training pitch as of yet."

George Friend: OUT

The veteran defender has had a whole host of injury problems since he joined the club in the summer and Taylor has stated that his injury is 'longer-term'.

Jordan Rossiter: OUT

The former Rangers man has had a torrid time and has been sidelined for over a year now since his serious injury. "The longer-term absentees of George Friend and Jordan Rossiter are nowhere near in contention, so we have got a few issues."

Luke McCormick: OUT

The midfielder hasn't feature since early October and whilst some of his teammates are back on the grass, his gaffer stated: "Luke McCormick might be another week away in relation to that."

Lewis Gordon: CLOSE

The youngster is another player who has been battling injuries this campaign and he has only managed seven appearances in the league this season. However Taylor had some positive news regarding his current status: "Obviously Flash is on the pitch at a low-level capacity, off the back of his hamstring injury."

Luca Hoole: CLOSE

Yet again another full-back who has been in and out of the side with fitness issues, but Gasheads can be excited as Taylor said the 22-year old could well be in the matchday squad on the weekend. "Certainly In terms of Luca Hoole, he is getting closer to it so he might be available for the bench."

The 41-year old went onto add: "But off the back of Tuesday night there is a few of them who have tired bodies, maybe a few sore bodies but we constantly are picking up bits and pieces so that's the group. But we can't use anything as an excuse regarding our performance."