O'Toole Discusses His Rovers Spell

Following the story this lunchtime that John-Joe O'Toole looks likely to be staying with Bristol Rovers beyond his current loan deal, we bring you an update from John-Joe himself on his time in the West Country.

Joe Dunne said this morning that O'Toole wasn't set to pick up regular football with the U's and would therefore be fine staying with the Pirates.

It's been a few weeks now since the midfielder made his loan switch to John Ward's Rovers, and he explained to their official website that he's enjoyed his time there.

'It's been good coming here to get games,' he admitted. 'All of the lads, the manager and the coaching staff have welcomed me so it's good to get those games, and we've picked up a few results, too.'

Having made his debut for Rovers in a 2-1 win over Plymouth, he bagged his first goal for the side with thumping drive from the edge of the box in their 3-0 win away at promotion-chasing Fleetwood.

It was O'Toole's first goal since, funnily enough, scoring at Bristol Rovers for the U's in a 3-2 defeat at the Memorial Stadium in February 2010, and he confesses it has been a long time coming.

'I've been well overdue a goal so it was about time I scored.

'It's the first one since my knee operation which was quite a while ago now, so I was really happy to score that and hopefully I can get a few more now.'

The tough-tackling midfielder has certainly made a strong impression on the Rovers faithful and, averaging over 5,600 in League Two, that feeling is mutual.

'There's some great turnouts for League Two and the fans here are really passionate, which is great to play in front of.

'You always have to work hard anyway, but you don't mind that so much when the fans are right behind you and, if they're happy with what I've been doing, then that's flattering.'

Where his future lies remains uncertain however and, although Joe Dunne has implied that John-Joe is free to remain at the Memorial Stadium if he wishes, O'Toole has a few things he needs to weigh up himself first.

'John Ward has mentioned about extending it but I'll see what happens.

'It's quite a big decision for me so I'll have to weigh things up a bit and speak to Joe Dunne about it.

'I just want to be playing. You want to play as high as you can for as long as you can, but at least if you're playing somewhere, even if that means dropping a league, you're out there picking up match time and getting noticed.

'That's what I need, so I'll see what happens.'


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