Striker Cody McDonald hailed new signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas as the 'Ronaldo of League 1'.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who has joined on loan from QPR, scored twice on Tuesday night to clinch a 3-1 win for the Gills at Southend United.

He scored the equaliser on the Saturday and set up another when the Gills beat the same opposition by the same scoreline in the league.

McDonald netted himself on Tuesday but dished out the praise for his new strike partner.

He said: “He’s not bad is he? He is unbelievable.

“When he scored the second goal I turned to (team-mate) Billy Knott and said ‘it’s like we have got the Ronaldo of League 1 isn’t it?!’ He just switches it on.

“He is a great person to have around the team and if he comes on or starts and does that every week we are going to be a team to be reckoned with.”

Emmanuel-Thomas came off the bench shortly after McDonald had levelled the scores at Roots Hall.

From that moment on the League Cup tie was heading only one way.

McDonald said: “When you have players like that coming on you just feel like they are going to change the game and that’s exactly what he did. He is a Championship quality striker and he has proved that so far.

“He just gets hold of everything and I know where he is. We seem to have clicked but we can’t get carried away. I just have to give him the ball and let him do it!

“Teams will struggle to live with him in this league. We have to keep him fit and I am sure he is filled with confidence and he will be looking to build on that on Saturday.”

More: Gills await news on injured duo

Read more reaction in Friday's Medway Messenger newspaper