Departures and injuries have left Gillingham down to the bare bones.

Striker John Marquis was signed before the weekend and the caretaker management team are keeping tabs on more possible targets.

Steve Lovell, one of four men in temporary charge of the first team, said: “We will discuss that, depending on how the injuries are.

“There are a couple of players going out of the club so if possible we would obviously like to strengthen the squad.”

Since Peter Taylor departed the Gills have lost several players. Loanee Harry Lennon was the first to depart, as Charlton opted against allowing the defender to renew his deal. Michael Doughty left on Thursday after his loan spell was cut short by his club QPR.

Either side of that the Gills have allowed striker Danny Kedwell and right-back Matt Fish to join Conference South side Ebbsfleet on permanent deals.

Defender Adam Barrett has returned from a loan spell at AFC Wimbledon but he has been allowed to talk to other clubs, one of those being League 2 Southend. He does, however, remain at the club and was expected back in training this week. Barrett is likely to feature in a development game later on Monday.

Antonio German and Josh Pritchard are fit but haven’t been involved recently but injuries have kept Amine Linganzi (hamstring), Aaron Morris (hamstring) and Callum Davies (foot) sidelined. John Egan (foot) and Joe Martin (calf) were both missing on Saturday but their injuries are short-term.

Lovell said: “A lot of youngsters have come through the youth system and the academy and they were there (at Crewe) because if need be we would have put them on. We have no worries about that but there are a few on the injury list now.

“We still have a 20-man squad and we need to make sure they are fit and ready to perform.”