Luke McCormick: Bristol Rovers midfielder out with ankle injury

Bristol Rovers midfielder Luke McCormick is set to miss six to 10 weeks with an ankle injury.

McCormick has played eight league games for Rovers this season, scoring two goals. He started the last two games after six appearances from the bench.

Bristol Rovers travel to Burton on Saturday for their first League One game in two weeks due to the international break.

“We’ve got Grant Ward back but in the midst of that we’ve lost Luke McCormick and Jack Hunt is going to be touch and go for the game Saturday,” manager Joey Barton told BBC Radio Bristol.

“He [McCormick] just rocked his ankle, it’s a training ground tackle, on Tuesday. I’m not a physio but he’s had the scan and it’s going to be at least six weeks, maybe eight to 10 depending on how quick that heals.

“Gutted for him because he’s just found his place in the starting [line up], starting to show everybody what he’s capable of and again just a training ground collision – it was avoidable – he’s going to miss a period of games.”

Rovers are 15th in the table and lost to second-placed Oxford United in their last match – one of two losses in their last six games.

McCormick is one of a number of players Rovers are set to be without for the trip to Burton this weekend, although Barton expects a few to return soon.

“We’ve got Tristan Crama on the horizon, George Friend on the horizon, Luca Hoole as well has picked up a bit of knock with Wales so we’ll assess him in the morning but he might be touch and go for the game Saturday,” Barton added.

“Luke Thomas was back on the grass today but he’s probably a couple of weeks away from returning to the matchday squad.”

Lincoln City’s Mark Kennedy becomes fourth League One managerial casualty and Gas set to host seventh-tier Whitby Town in FA Cup first round

After a long fortnight, Bristol Rovers are finally back in action as they travel to Staffordshire on Saturday to take on in-form Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.

Strangely, the 2-1 defeat at Oxford United feels like both yesterday and months ago with the Gas unlucky not to come away from the Kassam Stadium with a point at the very least after a spirited display that saw Rovers create enough chances to win the match with relative comfort.

Having had last weekend’s home match against Exeter City postponed due to international call-ups, Joey Barton’s side will have had opportunity to rest and reset as well as put in some crucial hours on the training pitch ahead of a run of fixtures that offer the opportunity to build some serious momentum with three consecutive home games to come after the trip to Burton.

15 points from 11 games is a satisfactory tally but performances have warranted more and it’ll be intriguing to see whether the Gas step up to another level over the coming weeks and start to build play-off contention form.

Prior to turning attention fully towards the Brewers contest though, here are a couple of the smaller headlines that have cropped up over this week relating to Rovers as well as in League One.

Lincoln City’s Mark Kennedy becomes fourth League One managerial casualty

Some sides are not even a quarter into their league campaign and already four managers have lost their jobs in the third tier with Imps boss Kennedy the latest to be dismissed.

Lincoln have an almost identical record to Rovers having taken 15 points from their opening 11 matches but sit one place below in the table with their goal difference +2 as opposed to the Gas’ +3. Kennedy’s side were close to taking three points from the Mem when the two sides met last month before an added time equaliser from Josh Grant ensured Barton’s men would take something from the game.

Crucially though, the difference between the two sides is that the Imps have been heading down the table after a strong start while Rovers are heading up it. Four consecutive defeats in the league has proven costly for the Irishman with last Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to the Gas’ next opponent Burton the final nail in the coffin.

Rovers’ FA Cup first round tie confirmed after replay

Barton’s men will host seventh-tier Whitby Town in the FA Cup first round in two weeks after the north Yorkshire outfit won their fourth qualifying round replay against Chelmsford City 3-1 on Tuesday evening.

The verdict after the initial 2-2 draw at Chelmsford was that Whitby were rather unlucky to be forced into a second match having taken a 2-0 lead before a comeback from the Essex outfit.

However, the seaside outfit ensured that they would be the ones making the trip to the League One outfit with a victory back on their patch three days later. A near-600 mile roundtrip in fact.

It’s the first time in 20 years that Whitby have made the first round proper while Gasheads took to social media to share their concerns about the tie with Rovers’ record against non-league outfits poor. Most recently they were eliminated by National League side Boreham Wood at the Mem in the second round last season.