Gillingham strikers Ronan Hale and Will Goodwin are injury doubts ahead of the League Two visit from Bristol Rovers

Gillingham are close to welcoming back several injured players for Saturday’s visit of Bristol Rovers – but striker Ronan Hale remains a doubt.

The lively forward suffered a “horrible” ankle injury in the weekend win over Tranmere, picking up a knock as he guided home the second goal in a 2-0 win at Priestfield.

Hale had earlier provided the cross for Logan Dobbs to head home the opener, with his goal capping an outstanding individual performance.

However, his afternoon ended painfully when he was caught by the Tranmere goalkeeper after finding the net.

Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth was delighted with Hale’s contribution but admits the club must wait to discover whether he will be fit to face Bristol Rovers.

He said: “I was really pleased with his goal and assist. We expect goals from Ronan and when there's something in the box running free, Ronan's the man you want at the end of it.

“He's hit the target a lot this season, but the keepers have matched him, but there was no way the keeper was matching him last weekend.

“He played a part in both goals, which I’m really pleased with. He’s becoming a real thorn in the side of League Two defenders, which is great.”

“On the other side of that, he took a real nasty whack on his ankle and had to come off straight away. It swelled up like a tennis ball on his ankle. It was horrible. We've [had] him in the treatment room and we'll see where that goes.

“We've got some really able deputies in Ronan's position. [Fellow striker] Will Goodwin's very close to being back now. Lamin Sillah, who we've got from Forrest, has been really impressive in training. We've got cover, but we'll see how Ronan is this week.”

Hale will be doing all he can to make himself available for Saturday’s game,