Dennis Oli comes away with the ball in the 2-2 draw against Southend on Tuesday night Picture: Barry Goodwin

by Luke Cawdell

Manager Andy Hessenthaler admits a lack of fitness is holding back Gillingham striker Dennis Oli back and is hoping it doesn’t knock his confidence.

Oli, who has been troubled with injury all season, came off the bench to replace Adebayo Akinfenwa at Southend but didn’t have the kind of impact either he or Hessenthaler wanted.

The forward hasn’t started a first team match for four months due to a problematic hamstring injury.

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Hessenthaler said: “Dennis is coming back from injury. You can tell he is short and he needs games.

“He was quite disappointed after the game (on Tuesday) and he feels he hasn’t done enough.

“He has been out a long time and it’s been difficult for the lad. He needs to keep his chin up because when you have been out that long it does take you a few games to get going, especially at this level.

“He played in the reserves against Charlton but this is a different ball game.”

How much of an asset would a fully-fit Dennis Oli be for Gillingham? Leave your comments below