CANADA’S national team head coach Dale Mitchell is backing Simeon Jackson to score the goals to fire Gillingham up the League 1 table.

Jackson, who was born in Jamaica, grew up in Ontario before moving to England at the age of 15.

He represented Mitchell‘s side at the Under-20 World Cup last summer, playing in all three of Canada’s group matches when they hosted the tournament, and Mitchell is confident he can progress with club and country.

“We haven’t had Simeon with us as much as we would’ve liked as there were a few issues with his passport, but we’re hopeful that he’ll be involved with us in the full national team as his career progresses.” said Mitchell.

“We’ve been aware of him since he was a young player in Canada, obviously he was looked at pretty seriously by some big clubs like Manchester United and Manchester City.

“His main strength is that he’s a goalscorer, that’s what got him a move to a higher level. He may take a few defenders by surprise as they won’t know what he’s all about.”

Despite not opening his goalscoring account, Jackson has put in lively performances in his first two matches for the Gills, and Mitchell says it’s only a matter of time before the 20-year-old scores.

“He’s got good quality and has the ability to score goals, he has a terrific attitude and is a grounded guy who knows what he wants,” he said. “Mentally, I don’t think his ability to adapt to a higher level is going to cause him a problem and he’ll go from strength to strength with Gillingham.

“I saw the report from his first game and it appears he had a number of chances, which is a good sign. He can score goals from distance as well as getting on the end of balls for tap-ins.

“If he continues to get chances, he’ll be adding to the goalscoring totals he had at Rushden.”