GARY Bowyer says he would love to keep Alex Baptiste at Blackburn Rovers next season.

Baptiste has been ruled out of this afternoon’s Championship fixture at Reading because of the hamstring injury that forced him off against Liverpool on Wednesday.

Rovers travel to the Madejski Stadium having lost four central defenders to injury in recent weeks, with Matt Kilgallon now the only senior centre half at their disposal.

It remains unclear whether Baptiste will return to fitness before the end of the season, but Bowyer hopes that a way can be found for the 29-year-old to remain with the club beyond the summer.

Baptiste is currently on a season-long loan from Bolton Wanderers and still has a year left on his contract at the Macron Stadium, with Trotters boss Neil Lennon saying he will hold talks with the defender at the end of the campaign.

Bowyer is currently restricted by the club’s transfer embargo, which would prevent Rovers from paying a fee as things stand.

But Bolton could yet decide to let Baptiste go to free up wages for new signings, and the player has previously said he is open to staying at Ewood Park.

“I’d love to keep him,” Bowyer said.

“You only have to see what he was prepared to do for us on Wednesday night, it just shows you the type of character that he is.

“Alex played probably 20 or 25 minutes with a pulled hamstring. I can’t speak highly enough of him, he just kept coming over and getting it strapped, and we had to drag him off in the end.

“It’s disappointing that he won’t be with us for this game and how long it’s going to be, we’re waiting on the results of the scans.

“Obviously he’s contracted to Bolton and we’ll see what happens when he goes back there.

“It becomes Bolton’s decision whether they want to keep him next season or not. He’s got a year left.”

Baptiste featured at right back for a large part of the season but switched to the centre of defence in recent weeks following injuries to Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy.

The former Mansfield man probably would have joined Rovers permanently two years ago when he left Blackpool, had confirmation of Bowyer’s appointment as the club’s full-time manager come a little earlier.

Bowyer said: “I think the initial time we had just got appointed and he was at Bolton signing. We were just probably a day too late on that one.

“He’s very versatile, he has scored goals for us and it’s safe to say his best performances have certainly been at centre half for us.

“He’s been outstanding for us. He’s a good pro, a good lad, and his experience has been brilliant for the younger ones that he’s played with.”

Without Baptiste, Bowyer faces a defensive headache today with Shane Duffy out for the season and Grant Hanley not ready to return.

Doneil Henry was back at Ewood Park on crutches to watch Rovers take on Liverpool on Wednesday, but injury also saw his loan from West Ham United cut short.

Left back Tommy Spurr could be among those in contention to fill in at the heart of the defence.

“We’ll be shuffling the pack and seeing who’s available to play centre half,” Bowyer said.

“It’s unheard of to lose four centre halves. You just couldn’t believe that sort of luck with one position.

“It’s been a season where we’ve had two quality centre halves on the bench, now we’re really struggling in that position.

“Grant Hanley has had another setback which doesn’t help us at this particular time at all, so he’s had to come off his rehab. He was progressing nicely but just can’t push it on further.”

Forward Chris Brown and midfielder David Dunn returned to training on Thursday but Bowyer says today’s game may potentially come too soon for both players.

The Rovers boss is keen to assess some of his younger players in the remaining games of the season – in particular John O’Sullivan.

Bowyer said: “We’ve had a plan with him in terms of he’s played Conference, then he went to Accrington, and to Barnsley in League One.

“We need to have a look at him and make sure that he’s ready to put a case down to be in the squad on a regular basis.”

Bowyer played down reports linking Rovers with a summer move for 24-year-old French centre back William Remy, who is out of contract with Dijon in the summer and is said to be a target for today’s opponents Reading.