By Luke Cawdell

Luke Rooney's Gillingham career has been plunged into uncertainty after he was axed from the team for refusing to sign an extension to his contract.

The 20-year-old, pictured, is out of contract at the end of this season and his representatives have been in negotiations for several weeks. But talks broke down before the weekend, prompting the club to omit him from the side which beat Aldershot 2-1 on Saturday.

Boss Andy Hessenthaler said: "Nobody is bigger than the football club and we feel we made him a very good offer.

"His representatives are adamant they are not going to sign it. We need players who are going to be committed to the cause here. I made a decision, along with the chairman, to leave him out.

"I am not saying Luke is not committed when he plays, he has shown that and has done well. But he has decided not to actually commit himself to the football club at this time."

Writing on his twitter account on Sunday, Rooney said: "Absolutely devastated that I wasn’t allowed to play!"

Was it right to leave Luke Rooney out of the side? Have your say in our comments section below.