Mark Stimson has explained his reasoning for leaving top scorer Simeon Jackson on the bench at Bristol Rovers.

Stimson was reluctant to make major changes to his team that beat Oldham, and with Jackson only returning to the squad late in the week from international duty, he left him on the sidelines.

Stimson said: "Jacko didn’t train with us and only came back on Thursday. It would have been hard to put him back in. The only other change was Barry Fuller coming back and Chris Palmer moving to the left.

"I don’t think the result was anything to do with selection, it was just the second half where we didn’t pass the ball enough."

Jackson remains under the spotlight, with teams such as Wolves and QPR rumoured to be interested, but Stimson doesn’t think the speculation will get to the 11-goal striker.

He said: "It must give you an extra boost, if you need one. What you have to do is get in the team and score as many goals as possible."