Trollope insists Williams still has a future with Bristol Rovers

Paul Trollope insists striker Andy Williams still has a future with Bristol Rovers – despite returning to his former club Hereford United for the rest of the season.

The 22-year-old marksman made a brief return to the Pirates this week after his initial four-month loan spell with the Bulls expired.

But the Edgar Street club then asked to extend the deal until the end of the current campaign.

And with Rickie Lambert, Jo Kuffour, Darryl Duffy and Ben Hunt already battling for two places up front, the Pirates agreed to let Williams return to his hometown club, which sold him to Rovers for around £100,000 in the summer of 2007.

"Andy has still got a future with us and we are hoping that this continuation of his loan aids his progress and will benefit him when he's with us again next season," said Rovers' coach Trollope.

"He's a player we chased for a long time and he still has all the attributes we knew he had.

"He will still have another year to run on his contract when he comes back to us – and he will be another year older and will have the benefit of a full season in League One behind him."

Williams made five appearances for Rovers over the opening weeks of the campaign – all of them from the bench – but has been making regular starts for the Bulls as they battle to stave off the threat of relegation from League One.

"When I was at Rovers I was getting a few starts from the bench but wasn't really getting too many 90 minutes under my belt and obviously I need that," said Williams, who netted once in 19 appearances during his first stint back at Edgar Street this season.

"Ideally I would have like to have scored a few more goals, but I got a lot of starts and towards the end I felt like I was getting my match sharpness back.

"It was awkward to begin with because I wasn't really getting too many shots in and spent a lot of time helping out the defence.

"But recently the side have been playing some decent football and starting to create chances."

Trollope believes regular football with Hereford will be better for Williams' development than occasional appearances from the bench for Rovers.

"We have a set of strikers in Rickie, Jo and Darryl who are strong at the moment – and we also have a couple of younger players who have been in and around the first-team squad," he said.

"I think the games that Andy has played for Hereford have benefited him.

"He's probably been a little bit disappointed with his goals return.

"But he's played regularly and started most of the games and we felt it was more beneficial for his development to continue that loan until the end of the season.

"Hopefully by then he will have played another 20 games or so, scored some goals and will then come back to us to prepare for next season."

Rovers are offering local schools the chance to obtain free tickets to watch their FA Youth Cup clash with Liverpool at the Memorial Stadium next Thursday, January 15 (7.30pm).

The Pirates will be opening the Uplands Stand and terrace for the fourth-round game.

Schools interested in taking up the offer should contact Clare McDonagh to obtain a booking form on 0117 952 4001. Admission prices for the game are £3 (adults) and £1 (concessions) and tickets can be bought in advance or on the night.