The Rovers head coach confessed last week that he would like to have another four players come in before the window closes on September 1 and has repeatedly stressed that the club will be trading until the very end.
That came after the confirmation of Connor Taylor’s departure for Wycombe Wanderers which has left the Pirates one man light at the back. Kofi Shaw’s sale to Brighton and Hove Albion has also reduced the team’s options in midfield.
However, following back-to-back defeats to start the season against Fleetwood Town and Harrogate Town, Clarke has stressed where Rovers still need reinforcements.
Speaking after Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Fleetwood, the Gas head coach said: “It’s not rocket science, is it? We lose Conor Taylor, we need two centre-halves in and then we need two midfielders as well to add now to massive competition for players, but we need good players. We don’t need to be taking chances on players. We need good players in to strengthen those positions and then all of a sudden we start looking a lot healthier as a squad.
“At the minute, we’re having to lick our wounds. Two games where we probably deserve something out of both games, if I’m honest with you, but two defeats. So if we can get the reinforcements in, and everyone’s working hard to do that so I’m not being critical, the quicker we have a a squad that can cope with a Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, which we’re going through in the next three weeks.”
Rovers have signed nine players so far this summer but, since the end of last season, 19 players have departed to leave the Gas light in some areas.
Clarke has stressed that he would like to work with a smaller squad, but the Gas did have a bloated roster last term which has already been trimmed quite significantly.
However, against Fleetwood on Saturday, nine of the 15 players that featured for the Pirates were at the club last season while it was 10 the weekend before versus Harrogate.
Rovers have just four recognised midfielders available in the form of Kamil Conteh and Isaac Hutchinson alongside summer additions Josh McEachran and Ryan Howley.
Meanwhile, the same applies at centre-back with Clinton Mola, Taylor Moore and Alfie Kilgour starting the two matches with 20-year-old Dan Ellison, who is yet to make his EFL debut, waiting in the wings. Left-back Bryant Bilongo was deployed as a left-sided centre-back during pre-season but is still inexperienced in that particular role.
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