Gills step up case for their defence
Boss Justin Edinburgh will be stepping up his search for defensive recruits, having been rocked by a series of injuries.
Three first-team defenders have picked up knee injuries, two of them serious.
The club have yet to give a timescale for the absence of the versatile Aaron Morris, with fears he may be out for the season.
Left-back Bradley Garmston is out for six weeks and may need an operation after dislocating a kneecap, while Deji Oshilaja is recovering from a knee strain.
Edinburgh said: “We are working hard on it. We knew that we needed cover in areas, another centre-half and that is work in progress.
“We knew we needed cover at right-back and left-back and are moving along. We don’t want to rush.”
Edinburgh (pictured) admits the Gills have missed out on a couple of targets.
He said: “We missed two, for no reason other than financial. We didn’t feel they were value for what we were looking to bring in. We are working at it and know what we need. We have to bring them here before the start of the season.”
Edinburgh described the recent injuries as a huge blow and was forced to plug the gap at the back with midfielders in the week, as the Gills faced Concord Rangers (2-1 win) and Billericay (1-1).
He said: “It was bad to have picked up the three knee injuries but there was nothing we could do about those. It is a big blow, all being defenders and that has left us short.
“We have to look at it positively and hopefully Deji will be back next week and then we have to assess from there.”
Meanwhile, Edinburgh is in the market for another striker. He already has four senior strikers on the books but wants another to boost his options ahead of the new campaign.
“You can never get enough,” said Edinburgh. “We need another one. That end is where you win matches and you need to have a different selection.”
Edinburgh has already added Bournemouth forward Joe Quigley to his ranks on loan until January. The 19-year- old featured for the Gills on Wednesday night at Billericay after being rested the evening before at Concord with a tight muscle.
The Gills boss already has Luke Norris, Cody McDonald and Rory Donnelly and he’s looking for someone in the mould of the latter.
Edinburgh said: “We just need to have that one player, pretty similar to Rory, who can play off the shoulder and stretch the team.”
Gillingham are on the road again tomorrow (Saturday) when they travel to take on League 2 Barnet, a team managed by former boss Martin Allen.
The Gills are then in action again on the Tuesday night, with an away game against Dartford (7.45pm kick-off).