Ethan Coleman has suffered a new blow in what’s been a frustrating start to the new season for the Gillingham midfielder.

Coleman picked up an ankle injury at the back end of last season, which proved problematic and kept him out during pre-season, only recently returning to start the league game at Doncaster.

He received a red card the following week, collecting a second booking for a foul, which meant he was suspended for one game, missing last Saturday’s trip to Notts County.

Manager Mark Bonner had planned to play him on Tuesday night in their EFL Trophy match against Crystal Palace under-21s but revealed that the 24-year-old was unavailable, and also likely to miss the top-of-the-table game against Barrow this Saturday, through injury.

“Ethan's been struggling with his knee since the sending off,” said the Gills boss.

“The tackle on him just before the sending off was a bad one, hence his reaction that got him sent off.

“He's been struggling with his knee and hasn't trained since.

“He's been in the gym. He's not on the grass yet with us but he will soon, hopefully. Maybe later this week, but Saturday will probably come too soon for him.

“It’s frustrating because obviously after the sending off we highlighted (Tuesday’s fixture) as a game where he would play.

“We'll just see how that settles.”

Bradley Dack also missed Tuesday’s Trophy game, but was there to watch.

Dack re-joined the Gills in mid-August but has been limited to a 45-minute run-out in the EFL Trophy against Peterborough United earlier this month.

Bonner hopes he might be available for the weekend, saying: “He trained this week, Monday and Tuesday. He should train again at the back end of this week.

“If he gets through the week okay, he's an option for the weekend, possibly.”

Gillingham rested a number of key players for the midweek Trophy game to ensure they were in top condition for the weekend.

Saturday’s visitors Barrow were playing a Carabao Cup game at Chelsea on Tuesday night, which ended in a 5-0 defeat, Christopher Nkunku scoring a hat-trick for the Premier Division side.