Gillingham have had to send Scott Vernon back to Colchester following the news that the on-loan striker will be out for at least three months.

Vernon damaged his ankle just 41 minutes into his debut for the Gills at MK Dons on Saturday and left the game on crutches.

The 25-year-old only joined last week on a month’s loan from fellow League 1 side Colchester.

Manager Mark Stimson was hoping Vernon would be the ideal partner for 10-goal striker Simeon Jackson, but he must now think again, after specialists delivered the knock-out news on Monday.

"It’s a minimum three months and it’s bad news," said the Gills boss.

"His ligaments have all been torn and he’s in a bad way. We wish him all the best. I’ve said I will keep in contact with him because it’s not nice to be out for such a long period.

"It doesn’t help our cause because we took him for a month and I was really looking forward to working with him. After seeing him for two days and half a game we thought he could be a massive part of the jigsaw.

"We’ve got to brush ourselves down now and try and look for someone else."

Stimson has got limited funds to bring in a replacement but admits the task is not easy.

"There aren’t many players available for the area we want," he said.

"Everyone wants a goalscorer or someone who is big and strong and can hold the ball up, there aren’t many of those around.

"We’ve got our eye on one or two and whether that happens before the weekend we’ll have to wait and see."