RYAN Green will be hoping to put his Bristol Rovers injury jinx behind him once and for all this week.

Coach Paul Trollope says he will be looking to include the defender in the squad again over the next few days, either for tomorrow night's visit of Oldham Athletic or next Saturday's home game against Southend United.

The Welsh right-back has suffered a nightmare run of injuries over the last 11 months, which has limited him to just three league starts since the 1-0 defeat at Swindon late last November.

Sidelined first by a broken jaw and then Achilles problems, the rest of last season was wiped out for the former Hereford United player, who needed surgery to clean up his heel injury and then spells at Lilleshall to help his rehabilitation.

But hopes that Green would make amends with an injury-free campaign this term were soon shattered when he damaged a hamstring in the final pre-season friendly against Dutch club Den Haag.

That kept him out of the first five games this season and his return to the fray was short-lived, for he aggravated the problem in the first half of last month's goalless draw against Crewe Alexandra at the Memorial Stadium

Because of that, Rovers have been tentative about pushing Green back into action too soon. But Trollope is hoping the ex-Wolves, Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday man – one of a clutch of defenders who have spent time on the sidelines this season – will soon be back in contention.

"Ryan is close," said Trollope. "His running is increasing and he has been doing some light ball work.

"But with it being his second hamstring injury in a short space of time, we have to be careful with it.

"The Huddersfield game came too soon for him, but we may see him involved in the squad for either Tuesday or Saturday."

Bristol Rovers are also being careful with central defender Steve Elliott, who also suffered a couple of injuries in quick succession.

He was forced from the field in the opening minutes of the Crewe game after sustaining a dead leg – then, during his rehabilitation, tweaked a calf muscle in training and looks unlikely to be ready for the visit of the Latics.

"We would love Steve to be available sooner rather than later, but we don't want to risk aggravating the situation and having him out for even longer," said Trollope. "His rehabilitation was ongoing over the weekend and we will assess the situation again this week."

Oldham arrive having made a strong start to a campaign, which has already brought an away win at Leeds United and 4-0 victories over Cheltenham and Hereford.

Former West Brom and Coventry marksman Lee Hughes – signed after a term in prison – has been among the goals, along with Andy Liddell and Chris Taylor.

But Latics boss John Sheridan beefed up his strikeforce further last week by landing Preston striker Brett Ormerod on a month-long loan deal.

Sheridan said: "There's no better time to strengthen – we're near the top of the division and we want to do things right and try to get out of it.

"I think it's all about strength in depth and that is important.

"Brett is a good addition to the team and he'll push people who think they are safe in the side. It'll threaten them and make them play even better, which is what I want."

Bristol Rovers completed a double over Oldham last season, winning 1-0 at Boundary Park early in the campaign before recording victory by the same margin at the Memorial Stadium in February thanks to Craig Disley's last-minute goal.