Simon King receives treatment on the pitch at Bromley from physio James Barker Picture: Edmund Boyden

by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham’s pre-season plans have been rocked further still with the news that central defender Simon King will miss the early part of the campaign.

A scan has revealed his ankle injury is more serious than first thought and manager Mark Stimson admits it was tough news to take.

"It is a big, big blow and I wasn’t expecting it," said Stimson. "I was expecting a month but now it looks longer and that’s not a good sign because for me I think he’s the best left footed centre half in the league. They are hard to replace but we have to get on with it.

"That news has thrown me because we were told something last week that wasn’t too bad but we have had another scan that has blown me out of the water if I’m honest because I wasn’t visualising that happening.

"Simon King for me is the complete centre half and if I was manager of a Championship team I would probably go and pay £1.5m for someone like that.

"Maybe in a month’s time I thought he would be back but we will have to go back in now and make some more phone calls and we might have to get another centre half to cover."

King picked up his injury in the pre-season friendly against Bromley after an innocuous challenge. The club are now likely to send King for another scan.

"We might go for another opinion to double check," added Stimson.

The Gills boss also had to take in the news that midfielder Stuart Lewis is also likely to miss the first three months of the season.

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