by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham loan signing Scott Vernon lasted less than half a game as the club’s injury woes and away day blues continued on Saturday.

Vernon (pictured) arrived at Priestfield from Colchester on Thursday but he departed the scene of another Gillingham away defeat on crutches after injuring his ankle.

That incident follows a number of blows to Gillingham’s League 1 campaign, after a succession of injuries to key men, and a 2-0 defeat at MK Dons on Saturday saw them slip to 16th in the table.

"I won’t be doing the lottery - I can tell you that," said Gills manager Mark Stimson. "We aren’t having much luck and, although that’s part and parcel of the game, the big point is that it’s always a key player.

"After working with Scott Vernon for two days, and looking at the start of Saturday’s game, it looked like he could be a big plus for us.

"But we just have to get on with it, brush ourselves down and come into work on Monday morning looking forward to the biggest game of the season next week against Charlton."