Bristol Rovers have confirmed that loanees Jake Garrett and Michael Forbes have returned to their parent clubs Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United respectively.
The duo have both seriously struggled for consistent game time in their half-season in blue-and-white quarters with Garrett in particular frequently excluded of late.
The 21-year-old midfielder made just seven league appearances, the majority of which coming in the first month of the season. However, after starting in the 4-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic in mid-September, Garrett went on to make just three substitute appearances in League One alongside two starts in the EFL Trophy.
It was telling that the midfielder was likely to return to Ewood Park when he was absent from the matchday squad to face Leyton Orient on New Year's Day despite a shortage of available players in his position with Kamil Conteh injured and Jamie Lindsay suspended.
Meanwhile, Forbes had started to earn more minutes in the build-up to Christmas with starts in the FA Cup against Barnsley and in the league fixtures versus Birmingham City and Wrexham. However, the 20-year-old centre-back lasted just 22 minutes against Wrexham having picked up a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since with his total number of league appearances also standing at just seven.
Bristol Live understands that Rovers' priorities in regards to incomings this month is signing a central midfielder and a centre-back which would cover the gaps now left by the departed loan duo. It is currently unclear what sort of profile the Gas are looking at but they now have only three loanees at the club in Josh Griffiths, Lino Sousa and Gatlin O'Donkor.
There is no limit on how many loan players a club can have but no more than five can be named within a matchday squad.
