Danny Jackman dislocated his shoulder at Southampton back in October. Picture: Barry Goodwin

By Luke Cawdell

Gillingham midfielder Danny Jackman is targeting a return from injury at the end of the month after already enduring 12 weeks on the sidelines.

Jackman dislocated a shoulder just minutes into October’s 4-1 defeat at Southampton and the subsequent operation has left him facing a long battle to get back to fitness.

The midfielder, who turned 27 on Sunday, knows the end of the recovery process is near but that the hardest work is yet to come.

He said: "Hopefully after two and a bit weeks I’ll be back training and after that I’ll have a couple of reserve games. By the end of the month, I could be playing again.

"I’m not blessed with being the fittest and I have to work really hard on that to get my fitness back. It’s going to take a long time to get match fit especially and that’s the major problem.

"Training every day will help, but match fitness could take a couple of months and so I’m not going to be fully recovered until the end of the season.

"I’m just looking towards next season now, that’s my priority, and if I can help out the team before that, then that’s a bonus."