Bristol Rovers boss John Ward has challenged his players to come together in order to overcome recent injury concerns.

Fabian Broghammer is expected to miss the majority of next season with a knee injury, while Ryan Brunt and Jim Paterson will also sit out the start of the new campaign with knee and leg injuries respectively.

"When you lose players from the squad through injury you look around for others to stand up, so I think these sorts of situations and little setbacks only serve to galvanise the group," Ward told the Bristol Post.

"We had to go through similar problems a few months back and the response I got from the players was second-to-none, so I don't expect anything different when we start the new season."

"We are a tight-knit group and we all feel desperately sorry for Fabian - it is horrible for a young player to get such a serious injury just before the start of a new season.

Rovers finished 14th in League Two last season.