A trip to Bradford City will evoke painful memories for Gills defender John Egan.

It is two years to the day since he suffered an horrific leg break while on loan with the Bantams.

Egan was just four games into his loan spell at Valley Parade when the incident happened.

“I jumped up for a header and landed awkwardly,” recalled the 22-year-old.

“It was very unfortunate and a long process to get back. It was a hard time.”

Some of Egan’s team-mates at the time were unable to look at the fracture, such was its severity.

But the Irishman bounced back and he thanks the Bradford fans for their support.

“I will never forget the way the Bradford fans helped me,” he said.

“They sang me off the pitch and it meant a lot to me. I received lots of letters from fans saying ‘get well soon’ and that all helped me. I can’t thank them enough for that.”

His last match for Bradford may have not been a happy one but he’s still looking forward to the return on Saturday.

“You love going to places with big stadiums,” he said.

“It will be great for us all. Hopefully we can get our heads down, put in a good performance and get the win.

“We’ve won two games on the bounce and we want more. We haven’t been doing well enough in the last couple of months, we know we are better than that, and we need to get on the pitch and prove it.”