Football Clarke vows to make Gas stronger by end of transfer window

DARRELL Clarke has guaranteed Bristol Rovers will have a squad that is “a lot stronger” come the end of this summer's transfer window than the one he started with when returning to the club in May.

- Dan HARGRAVES

Rovers kick off their League Two campaign at home to Harrogate Town on Saturday, but will still have until 7pm on September 1 to complete any remaining business, of which there appears to still be a notable amount.

The Gas have signed eight players this summer, while 17 have departed since the end of last season. Both tallies are expected to rise with the Pirates still confident of reinforcements while accepting that they will, eventually, have to sell players, too.

Asked about his squad going into tomorrow's season opener, Clarke said: “You always want more, don’t you, as a head coach? But I think time’s going to tell. What I will say is, by the end of the transfer window, I think we'll be a lot stronger of a squad than what we started with. That I can guarantee.

“So these things take a little bit of time. Always bits and manoeuvres. We will see how we start the season. There are a lot of games in August as well. I’ve said this a few times, I think we'll be player trading right until the last day of the window, and for me it’s all about coming out of the window a lot stronger than we went into it.