Ben Garner: Bristol Rovers prepared for life without Clarke-Harris but hopeful of striker staying

Rovers No9 has been targeted by Championship clubs but trained as usual on Friday morning

Ben Garner has revealed Bristol Rovers have "replacements ready to go" should Jonson Clarke-Harris leave on deadline day, but the Gas boss hopeful he will stay at the Mem.

Clarke-Harris has been the subject of interest from Championship clubs throughout the January transfer window, most prominently from Charlton Athletic.

The Addicks are the first and only club to submit an informal offer of around £1million for Rovers’ top scorer, but Bristol Live understands negotiations over a deal have stalled on Friday morning.

Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City and Cardiff City remain interested, but time is running out for Clarke-Harris to secure a deal away – and he trained with the Gas squad on Friday ahead of the visit of Coventry City on Saturday.

And chances of the number nine leaving are diminishing, with Hull and Wednesday looking at other options in James Scott, of Motherwell, and Crystal Palace's Conor Wickham respectively.

Garner hopes the 25-year-old remains in the blue and white quarters beyond the 11pm deadline, but he insists the club are prepared to act should an acceptable offer come in tonight.

"Jonno has trained, and as things stand there has been no official bid for Jonno," Garner said. "So he’s preparing for the game tomorrow and that’s where we are.

"We want to keep all of our good players. If there’s an offer that meets our valuation of any of our players then obviously we look at it.

"If there is a good offer for Jonno, say this afternoon, then we’ve got targets in place as replacements and they’re ready to go, so it won’t be a case of a player going out against our will and us not having anyone to bring in.

"We’re prepared for all eventualities as the day progresses."

Garner told reporters at Cribbs that despite already securing six singings in his first month in charge, he hopes to do more business before the window shuts.

Centre-half Cian Harries joined on a permanent deal from Swansea City on Friday, following striker Timmy Abraham– who penned a loan deal from Fulham 24 hours previously – through the door, and Garner wants more additions.

"We’d still like one or two more incomings. We’ll see if there’s going to be any outgoings, but as things stand we’re still hopeful of doing some business," he added.

"Cian is a good signing for us, we’re very hopeful he will do well at the club.

"He’s excellent on the ball, that’s his big strength. He’s as good a passer as I’ve seen in a young centre-half.

"Left-footed, very good range to his passing, he will give us the ability to bring the ball out and progress it from the back.

"He’s got really good defensive attributes, he’s got a really good grounding in the game, and as I say it’s a good signing in terms of where we can progress. He can really push on in his career as well.

"Timmy’s been a deal in place before I joined the club, so it’s taken a little while to get it finalised, but the club were very keen to push that one through.

"He offers different attributes to what we’ve got here. I think it’s an opportunity for Timmy to come and experience league football and the environment and the physicality of the league, and also for us to see whether he impacts our team and whether he can get ahead of the front players we’ve got here.

"So it’s an opportunity for us to look at him closely and see if he can impact League One football."

Harries will not be available for selection against the Sky Blues with Rovers awaiting international clearance, while Garner said he will “wait and see” if Abraham makes his debut on Saturday.