Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh expects the real Doug Loft to now start showing what he can do.

The Gills skipper has been hampered by a niggling Achilles injury since joining the club, but that problem has now been eradicated.

He returned to the squad last weekend and rescued a point for the Gills with a wonder-strike against Southend, even if the player admitted afterwards it was a fluke. Edinburgh believes that was just the start of things to come.

The Gills manager said: “Lofty coming back is a big plus for us and I thought he influenced the game on Saturday.

“What we have is a player who is the fittest he has been since he signed for the club. He is clear of injury now after playing throughout the whole of last season with an Achilles injury.”

Loft signed for the Gills last summer from Port Vale, where he had also been skipper and was a key man for the Staffordshire side. It’s been a stop-start time at Gills for the Maidstone-born player.

Edinburgh said: “He wants to play and is desperate to do well, but we had to sit him down and take a step back and get him into a position that when he did come back he would be fully fit and we could see the true Doug Loft.

“We have had glimpses of it and I think we are going to see it now. He has been playing within himself with an injury and I think that shows his character – he was willing to put himself on the line to play for the club and the team."