BRISTOL Rovers are set to include new signing Tom Parkes in their squad for tomorrow's home game against Morecambe.

Manager Mark McGhee moved to bolster his defensive options yesterday by capturing the 20-year-old centre-back from Leicester City.

That will see Parkes team up again with his Foxes team-mate Cian Bolger, who is also on loan until the end of the season. The central defensive duo came up together through the Championship club's youth academy.

"Tom already knows Cian as the two of them have developed together at Leicester and they get on well, so they will be able to get off to a flying start," said McGhee.

"He is a left-sided player and different from Cian, so that should give us a bit of balance at the back.

"Leicester have said that they see these two as a potential partnership for the future."

McGhee's latest venture into the loan market came after Chesterfield central defender Aaron Downes suffered knee cartilage damage just days after extending his loan spell with the Pirates until the end of the season.

At first, it was feared the Australian, who had caught the eye with a string of impressive performances, could be ruled out for the rest of the campaign.

But McGhee has revealed that the news is now more encouraging.

"Aaron will probably be back in six weeks and we expect him to be playing for us again before the end of the season," said the manager.

"That's good news for him because he's out of contract with Chesterfield and wants to prove himself and show that he's worthy of being here next season.

"Certainly, from what I've seen of him so far, I would think he has just got to prove his fitness.

"His injury left us with only two central defenders, but now we can go into the Morecambe game with cover we can feel happy with."

Parkes, who is 6ft 2ins, is a former England Under-17 international. He has yet to make a first-team outing for Leicester, but has had a loan spell at Yeovil Town and three stints with Burton Albion.

The most recent saw him suffer a broken ankle in August, though he marked his return to action last month with an outing from the bench for the Brewers as he chalked up his 32nd Football League appearance.

McGhee's slection options will be boosted further for the clash with the Shrimps as leading scorer Matt Harrold, pictured, winger Mustapha Carayol, forward Joe Anyinsah and right-back Danny Woodards are all back in contention after injury.

"There is competition for places in a lot of areas now," said McGhee. "I want that sort of pressure on everybody and having players available again will do that.

"We did well in our last home game against Bradford and showed good resolve to get through it when we came under pressure late on.

"I would hope we would have bit more strength on the bench this weekend and will be able to change things if we need to. It gives us more options.

"This is a massive spell of games coming up for us now and we can go into it in good form and with a good appetite."

Despite more poor weather being forecast, Rovers have covered the Memorial Stadium pitch and brought in hot air blowers in a bid to try and ensure the game goes ahead.

They saw last weekend's game at Aldershot frozen off, while Morecambe have not played for almost three weeks because of the weather and the FA Cup commitments of scheduled opponents Crawley Town.

Bournemouth striker Lyle Taylor has joined Hereford United on a month-long loan deal, while Wycombe Wanderers' former Bristol Rovers defender James Tunnicliffe, has moved to Crewe for the same length of time.