Gillingham have lost a second loan player to injury in the space of a week.

John Mousinho has returned to parent club Preston North End after being ruled out for over a month with a hamstring injury.

That would keep him sidelined for the remainder of his loan period with the Gills, which runs until the start of January.

Mousinho was making his sixth Gills appearance on Saturday, at Rotherham, but was substituted early after pulling up.

Before the weekend Elliott Hewitt, on loan from Ipswich, was also forced to cut short his loan spell. A fracture in his ankle meant the 19-year-old returned to his club after playing just three games for the Gills.

Gills boss Peter Taylor signed the pair to add much-needed athleticism into the team.

“It’s the type of players where we’ve been a bit unlucky,” he said.

“I felt we needed some athletes and some people who could cover the ground more, to get the ball back and to make forward runs to support the centre forward.

“To have both of them go out, that is very unlucky.”