All Quiet On The Gas Front

It's been a pretty tame week so far in the world of Bristol Rovers.

Eliot Richards preparing to strike in to an unguarded net

Following the scintillating display we put in against Burton Albion to register a 7-1 victory it's been quite quiet. There was a frenzy of praise for our performance on Monday and the highlights on BBC Sport will have been viewed over and over again by some Gasheads. Centre back Tom Parkes and hat-trick hero Eliot Richards earned recognition in the League Two Team Of The Week and it was very much deserved. There has not, however, been anything to note over the past couple of days and it's definitely beginning to feel like the season's end is almost upon us.

Parkes has been interviewed and stated he hoped he could break his way in to the Leicester City side when he returns to the King Power stadium in the summer. Whether the composed young defender would be considered for a starting XI berth in Nigel Pearson's side remains to be seen, but the confident youngster clearly thinks he has a chance. He's played superbly for us since arriving and will have sent the Leicester scouts keeping tabs on him home very happy. But with Cian Bolger, his fellow Foxes loanee, also returning to the club over the summer it looks like he'll have plenty of competition to break in to an already established squad. I'd love to see Tom stay with us next year if we could sign him permanently but if we couldn't I'd be inclined to look elsewhere. I think we'd be better off with our own squad of players and not reliant on loan signings - it'll be interesting to see if Mark McGhee concurs.

Other than that we know McGhee was this week talking to some players' representatives to try and negotiate new contracts. Danny Woodards and Eliot Richards have to be absolute must-keeps, but nothing has been announced or hinted at yet. Whether that's good or bad news I'm not sure. Mustapha Carayol has to be offered an extension to his deal too. It ensures we'll either receive a top fee for him if he were to carry on his electric form going in to next season, or better still, make sure he stays with us for years to come!

We face Port Vale at Vale Park on Saturday, which is sure to prove a tricky game. But we'll be buoyant after our thumping of the Brewers last week and will want to keep that run going. 3 games left this season and they all look very winnable. If we create chances we can score goals, as we've shown, so with Matt Harrold in with a chance of being crowned top goalscorer in League Two we need to make sure we put some dangerous balls in to the box!

Up the Gas!