Plymouth Argyle v Bristol Rovers injury news as seven ruled out and five doubts

Bristol Rovers players are ‘auditioning’ for next season, admitted Joey Barton who could make changes against Plymouth Argyle.

Rovers suffered a 2-0 defeat to managerless Port Vale and Barton made full use of the five substitutions at his disposal.

Jordan Rossiter and Paul Coutts are the two Gas players whose seasons are over. Coutts is on ‘work experience’ with the club to see if he could entertain a coaching role whilst Rossiter’s torn meniscus from December has had him sidelined.

Ellery Balcombe is closing in on a return before the end of the season whilst Josh Grant is pushing hard for an opportunity after just ten minutes of action this season. Anssi Jaakola is still sidelined with a knee problem and so it will be between James Belshaw and Jed Ward for the starting spot between the sticks.

As for Plymouth Argyle. Brendan Galloway is a doubt after a hamstring strain sustained last Tuesday. He came off in the first half against Shrewsbury and did not feature on the weekend.

Bali Mumba made a return for the hosts after missing the last three matches. Conor Grant was made available for selection by Steve Schumacher but he was not included in Plymouth’s match-day squad.

Matt Butcher - linked with a move to Rovers in the summer - had some stiffness against Shrewsbury and didn’t make the trip to the Abbey Stadium. Mickel Miller meanwhile is still out with a hamstring strain which happened on Easter Monday.

Goalkeeper Michael Cooper is out for the rest of the season after being injured since February. The 23-year-old is out with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament knee injury. James Bolton suffered an injury setback in March and a hamstring injury has seen him miss the last five games.

Former Aston Villa winger Tyreik Wright has not played for the last three matches. The same can be said for New Zealand centre forward Ben Waine too.