Gillingham striker Vadaine Oliver was given a little breather this week after a challenging run of injuries.

Oliver has overcome an ankle injury that left him struggling at the start of the season and was playing with sore ribs last weekend. He was left out of the midweek EFL Trophy squad and told to put his feet up by manager Steve Evans.

Assistant boss Paul Raynor admitted Oliver wasn’t 100% in Saturday’s game with Wigan but the management team are expecting him to be back recuperated for the trip to Wycombe.

“Vadaine is fine,” said Evans. “We gave him some time with his family for a couple of days because over the previous two weeks the big man has been struggling to be fit and he has been in the building more than the seats in the Rainham End.

“We gave him the night off and although he was desperate to come to the game I said go home with the wife and kids and watch it on the big box, get your feet up and come back in ready to go.”

Evans made seven changes for the midweek game as he also left Alex MacDonald and captain Kyle Dempsey out. Both were at the ground on Tuesday as they were put through some fitness drills by coach James Russell.

First-choice keeper Jamie Cumming was left on the bench

Evans said: “Macca and Kyle weren’t in the squad because of the ramifications of one or two of them getting hurt at this minute, when we are struggling to get others back, we deemed it not a risk worth taking.”

Ryan Jackson and Mustapha Carayol are both training but Saturday might still come too soon to be involved.

“We will have a look at it and make that call on Friday,” said Evans.

“It would be unlikely Ryan Jackson would come straight back in anyway after being off for six weeks, he probably needs a bit more time than Mustapha.

“We are keen to go to Wycombe and produce a performance but we can’t put a player out there and run the risk of losing them for four more weeks because as I have said to our medical department, I have never known a season like it.

“We have constantly got four or five injured every week, it has been like that all season. It is not the repeat of the same injuries, they are different, it is not a training ground model that is wrong, we have just been unlucky, simple as that.”

More on the Gills;

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Trophy defeat: 'One or two let themselves down'