BROMSGROVE Rovers are hoping to persuade Coca-Cola Championship Division One side Walsall to extend promising midfielder Nathan Jameson's stay at the club.

Jameson has impressed manager Jimmy Mullen since joining on a one month loan from the Black Country club.

And the Rovers boss is eager to have the talented 20-year-old stay longer.

Assistant manager Bernard Mackey said: "He wants to stay and we certainly want him to do too, so it's all down to Walsall.

"Hopefully we'll speak to Walsall about him staying longer.

"All Nathan wants to do is play first team football."

The gifted Middlesbrough-born midfielder was a shining light in Rovers' lacklustre win over Southern League Division One West side Egham on Saturday.

Despite playing on a pitch that resembled a bog in the centre Jameson pulled the strings for Rovers.

Mackey said: "Nathan was tremendous - as bad as we were he stood out."

Jameson has three weeks left at the club and should play in Saturday's game at Yate Town, the match at Clevedon on February 26 and the home game against Brackley on March 5.

Mullen said: "I can't see why Walsall will have a problem.

"It'd be better for him if he was playing here than playing for Walsall's reserves."

Mullen's assistant, Mackey, though has warned that the club must sort out the pitch at the Victoria Ground if they want to attract more quality ball players.

He said: "As I told the chairman, there would have been no point playing someone else like Nathan on our pitch because it would not have worked.

"It's almost impossible to pass on and we really need to improve it."

Chairman Tom Herbert reassured the assistant manager that everything is being done to improve the surface.

He said: "We're doing everything we can to improve the pitch. We've been unlucky with the bad weather.

"A lot of people are blaming all the games that are played on it, but that's not true.

"The weather has been simply awful in the last few weeks."

Rovers have made a seven-day bid for Gresley Rovers striker Justin Rowe on Monday.

The approach came after the news that strikers Leon Mitchell and Ravi Sangha will be out for several weeks through injury.

Mitchell, who started the Egham game, was still carrying an injury, while Sangha has suffered a knee problem and has only played 13 minutes since joining from Evesham United.

Mullen is eager to get Mitchell back to his best - especially the form when he masterminded Rovers' win over Worcester City in the Worcestershire Senior Cup in November.

Mullen said: "Leon told us he was fit, but he clearly wasn't.

"We want him back at his best as he was against Worcester City - that's his benchmark."

Defender Karl Johnson is available for selection for Saturday's trip to Yate after recovering from a knee injury.

Scott Hadland, who signed from Bedworth last week, is also available for Saturday's clash.

By Peter McKinney