Gow to stay at Rovers, will Richards be staying at City?

It was confirmed on the 8th February that Bristol Rovers had signed City's top scorer Alan Gow on loan for the rest of the season, in a loan swap deal that saw 22-year-old Eliot Richards switching the other way. At the time there was speculation that this was down to Exeter City's finances and that they couldn't afford to keep Gow, so they had to settle for the young Richards.

Both players contracts are up at the end of the season and the latest news from Bristol, despite the fact the Scot is now out injured until the end of the season, is that John Ward wants to keep him.

Ward said "He can make a difference to our side and he wants to be here."

"He would be fit to start pre-season," and then went onto say, "He's had the operation on his ankle but everyone tells us he's going to be fine for pre-season. People recognise he's a good footballer. We saw that in him and so did our supporters."

Meanwhile, Eliot Richards has been making a name for himself in Devon. Since his arrival he's scored a total of 5 goals for the club, most notabley Tuesday nights winner in the Devon Derby victory over Plymouth Argyle.

Paul Tisdale has been singing Richards' praises particularly after his brace against Fleetwood on Saturday. He said "We've got a fabulous new player in our team in Eliot Richards".

The question is now, what will happen to Gow and Richards. I'm sure many City fans will be sad to see Alan go but he is approaching the age of 32, whereas Richards is only 22 and could be a long-term forward player that the Grecians are in desperate need for, as players like John O'Flynn and Sam Parkin aren't going to last forever.