Bristol Rovers' season is beginning to falter out and there's already a feeling that many already have one eye on what happens in the summer.
Joey Barton admitted in the defeat to Portsmouth on Saturday that he wished the 2022/23 campaign would end today, and admitted the struggles of motivating the team at this stage of the competition. Rovers are seven points off of their 52-point target set at the start of the season which would ensure their survival.
Survival in the first year after promotion from League Two was always going to be the first objective, but a good run of form just before Christmas, had fans, players and staff alike wondering if a play-off push was a possibility. Since the turn of the New Year, it's been hard to get a consistent run of form, with multiple factors such as a spate of injuries, refereeing decisions going against them and individual errors.
This summer is set to a big one, and there will be several decisions to be made as to who stays and who goes. This season there has been a reliance on loan players, and once they return to their parent clubs, Barton will have to use his contacts book again to persuade Premier League and Championship clubs to take their players off them and develop them.
BristolWorld takes a look at the players that could likely leave the Memorial Stadium this summer alongside a couple of maybes and the stars that definitely won’t be going anywhere.
13. Paul Coutts - 5
It seems time has caught up with Coutts, who could be out now for the rest of the season. He’s had numerous spells out with injury, and that’s disrupted the flow of his game. | Getty Images Photo: Harry Trump/Getty Images
14. Lewis Gibson - 7
Gibson should be a priority for Rovers in the summer, and his score is only low, because he’s had two spells out with injury. He’s performed well when he’s played. | Getty Images Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Image
15. Ryan Loft - 5
A good run of form in August and September made us think that Loft could be the man to build around, but injuries and suspensions have made for a stop-start campaign. He’s been kept out of the side by Coburn and now Marquis in recent weeks. | Getty Images Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images
16. Harry Anderson - 5
Anderson’s struggled to get a consistent run in the side following a spate of injuries. He’s a good utility man to have, but it’s a struggle as to where he fits in to Rovers’ best side. | Getty Images Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images