Bristol Rovers trial confirmed as Joey Barton runs rule on ex-QPR, Derby County & Bristol City star

Joey Barton will continue to monitor Chris Martin after the experienced striker trained with Bristol Rovers this week.

The 34-year-old is a free agent after leaving QPR in May, and has been at The Quarters in Almondsbury over a possible move to the Gas.

Martin left Rovers’ inter-city rivals Bristol City in January, and has remained local to the area which allowed for him to train this week.

Rovers missed out on the deadline day signing of Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris and could now dip their toes into the free agent market, which is getting smaller by the day.

When asked about if there was anything in the pipeline regarding Martin, Barton responed with : “I think you would be the first to know about that if anything changes.

“The free agent market is kind of flushing out now because lads are wanting to get fixed up.

“Chris is local to Bristol, it was an easy option for us to have a look at him. He’s done fine, and we’ll monitor that from here.”

Rovers are permitted to make one free-agent signing as per EFL rules. Clubs in League One are allowed 21 players above 21-years-old, and they may not rush into a decision that may not allow them to make any more movement until the January transfer window.

Tristan Crama has returned to Brentford to begin rehabilitation after suffering an injury in training last week. The 21-year-old has made a positive influence on the team since his arrival in July, but now there are only three centre-backs available to Barton.

It could mean that Rovers have to decide whether to sign a centre-back to provide cover, or move ahead for a striker if there is a belief that more attacking power is needed. Aaron Collins and John Marqus are attacking options, whilst Harvey Vale and Jevani Brown are also capable of playing as centre-forwards.

“A week is a long time in football, last week we had too many bodies and this week we’ve lost a few of them,” added Barton.

“You start to see the benefit of having a bit of depth in your squad especially when there’s some knocks and niggles get picked up.”