Gillingham manager Mark Stimson believes midfielder Stuart Lewis is just one game away from reaching the peak of his fitness.

Lewis (pictured) returned to Gillingham’s starting eleven a month ago after spending the opening months of the current campaign recovering from an ankle injury he picked up in pre-season.

He’s been an ever-present in midfield since then but Stimson feels that he’s still not running on full power.

"He’s probably going at 90 per cent fitness," said Stimson. "In training he’s up there but he’s not leading like he normally does when he is a hundred per cent. He is probably another game away from being where he wants to be."

Lewis was taken off towards the end of Saturday’s win over Oldham after being on the receiving end of numerous heavy challenges.

Stimson said: "He took some good whacks but fair tackles and he came through. He looked a bit shaken up and that’s why I took him off at the end. I thought his performance was a lot better than last week."