Promise Omochere is back from injury and is building up his minutes ahead of the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two campaign.
The forward missed two portions of last season due to injury, but when he was fit, the 24-year-old was always a challenge for defenders to mark. Netting four goals in his debut term for Rovers, the former Fleetwood Town man was a presence in the forward line and used his physicality to hold up possession and put pressure on the opposition.
Registering an assist on his return, rolling a pass across to Ruel Sotiriou to score in the Pirates' 2-1 win over Chippenham Town over one week ago, Omochere forced Ben Hinchliffe into a clever save and almost provided an excellent assist to Kofi Shaw in his first-half performance against Stockport County.
Omochere is hoping Rovers' pre-season schedule will help build his fitness for the start of the League Two campaign and is looking to play as many games as he can.
“It’s amazing for me to build my fitness back up,” he said. “I’ve not had the best time with injuries, so it’s good to build more minutes into the legs, and I will continue to build myself up to the first game of the season.
“I’m definitely getting back to where I want to be. I feel good and hopefully I now get a full pre-season under my belt as it will put me in a good place going into the season to kick on and play as many games as I can and stay fit.”
Omochere played the opening 45 minutes for Rovers in an entertaining five-goal thriller against Stockport. The Pirates fell two goals behind after strikes from Ollie Norwood and Lewis Fiorini on either side of half-time before efforts from Ollie Dewsbury and Luke Thomas levelled the contest at the Pinatar Arena. Nevertheless, the Hatters won it late on through Che Gardner.
It was a difficult test for the Gas against a Stockport side looking to improve on their play-off finish in Sky Bet League One last term, with the striker looking at other aspects of the fixture rather than only the scoreline.
“It was tough with the weather and with the heat,” said Omochere. “Stockport are obviously a good team, no matter the circumstances, whether it’s a pre-season friendly or a league game. It was a tough test, and I think the lads did well in this heat as well. We went 1-0 down and brought it back to 2-2 as well.
"The result is not a major factor; it’s about getting the fitness and getting the lads together to build that team togetherness, and the phases of play and all of that stuff will come afterwards.
“The mentality in the group is a lot better. So, it shows the lads want to win, whatever the circumstances are. They showed fight in the second half by bringing the game back, but we’re disappointed to concede the late goal to lose the game at the end.”
One massive positive from Rovers' fixture in Spain was the performance of Dewsbury. The 17-year-old displayed great composure to curl his strike in from close range to halve the deficit for his side before assisting Thomas' equaliser.
Dewsbury has previously admitted that Omochere has helped him improve his game, with the Irish forward always happy to help the young attacker.
“Ollie is a top kid,” he stated. “He has a really bright future and is still only 17. I’m really happy for him to get a goal and an assist out here. He is a big lad for his age.
“Everything that I’ve learned from all the players in the past and some that I implement in my game, if I see that he needs some help with some stuff, I can give him the two pence that I know. So, I am really pleased for him. Ollie is a really good player.”
The Gas' game against Stockport concluded their week away in southern Spain, with Head Coach Darrell Clarke using the warm-weather camp to put his players through their paces and push them to their limits.
Omochere confessed it has helped the team on and off the pitch, but joked that he has not been a fan of the hot conditions.
“The heat has been too much for me, but in terms of the team togetherness, it’s really shown this week,” he said. “I think it’s huge. It’s probably underestimated how important that is in a team to get that togetherness and get that banter going from early on. So, it’s great to see.
“All the lads are really getting along and I’m really happy with it as well. The new lads coming in have been great. They have gelled into the group really nicely, and obviously the boys are having some back-and-forth games in the hotel, so hopefully I get back now, and my room is in one piece.”
