“The gloves will be off” when the whistle sounds on Saturday, says Gillingham boss Steve Lovell, as he looks ahead to the return of Bradley Dack.

The 24-year-old has been a star man for Blackburn this season, his game going up another level following his £750,000 move from the Gills in the summer.

Lovell knows Dack well but doesn’t expect any niceties once the game gets under way on Saturday.

He said: “He will get a round of applause but at the end of the day it is us against Blackburn. He plays for Blackburn and we have to put one on him if you like.

“We want to win the game and he won’t be thinking ‘Gillingham was a great start (to my career), let’s let them win’, that never happens.

"He will be out there to score as many as he can against us and try and get the three points.

“As soon as the whistle goes the gloves are off, all of the niceties are gone and we will do whatever we can to try and stop Blackburn from playing and to get the three points.”

Dack played 160 league games for the Gills and while at the club he was named League 1 player-of-the-year after a terrific 2015/16 season, scoring 15 goals from midfield.

Read more comments from the Gills boss in this week's Medway Messenger newspaper.