Promise Omochere has pledged to “continue to build myself (himself) up to the first game of the season” as the Bristol Rovers striker looks to put past injury woes aside once and for all.
The 24-year-old has played competitively just four times for Rovers in 2025, coming off injured in two of those matches, as his first campaign in blue-and-white quarters was plagued by fitness issues.
Despite having to miss a small period at the start of pre-season, the Irishman has featured in both of the Gas’ friendlies so far. After playing 30 minutes in a 2-1 win over Chippenham Town, in which Omochere set up Ruel Sotiriou for the opening goal, the forward then played 45 minutes on Saturday in a 3-2 defeat to Stockport County in Spain.
Reflecting on pre-season so far, Omochere told club media: “It’s amazing for me to build my fitness back up. I’ve not had the best time with injuries, so it’s good to build more minutes into the legs, and I will continue to build myself up to the first game of the season.
“I’m definitely getting back to where I want to be. I feel good and hopefully I now get a full pre-season under my belt as it will put me in a good place going into the season to kick on and play as many games as I can and stay fit.”
There is no denying the striker’s potential after Rovers paid a club record fee believed to be in the region of £500,000 to Fleetwood Town last summer. However, four goals and just 16 League One starts made it a less prolific season than hoped.
Now, the Gas find themselves in League Two but there is hope that they can get more out of Omochere this term as long as they can manage his minutes and build up his fitness as required.
Rovers spent last week in Murcia for warm weather training before facing Stockport and now have a double-header week with friendlies back in England against Bath City (Wednesday) and Yeovil Town (Saturday).
“The heat has been too much for me, but in terms of the team togetherness, it’s really shown this week,” Omochere confessed. “I think it’s huge. It’s probably underestimated how important that is in a team to get that togetherness and get that banter going from early on. So, it’s great to see.
“All the lads are really getting along and I’m really happy with it as well. The new lads coming in have been great. They have gelled into the group really nicely, and obviously the boys are having some back-and-forth games in the hotel, so hopefully I get back now, and my room is in one piece.”
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