Bradley Dack scored his first Football League goal on Saturday and Gillingham boss Martin Allen knows the only way is up for the youngster.

Allen believes the 19-year-old, pictured, can score goals at a much higher level than League 2 and only wished that he had played him more often earlier on.

Allen, who takes his side to Rochdale on Tuesday night, said: "Dack has been due a goal for ages and we knew he was going to score soon.

"We were going to rest him as I was thinking that he might not be able to cope with three starts in a week. But then he scored three goals in a nine versus nine match which we played at the end of training and he looked sharp."

Dack scored the equaliser against Morecambe on Saturday to register his second goal for the Gills. His only other senior goal came in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat to Crawley at the start of the season.

"He won’t just score at this level," insisted Allen, who handed Dack his first senior appearance at Bristol City in the Capital One Cup in August.

"He will score at the level above and the one above that. He has got an eye for goal and he scored 27 last year (for the youth team).

"He scored about five in pre-season and I perhaps made an error by not playing him more and showing more trust and faith."