Gillingham manager Steve Evans is back on the striker trail and is due to meet one potential signing today.

Evans’ side have been short upfront for some time and on New Year’s Day they deployed full-back Robbie McKenzie in attack against MK Dons for the last half hour.

The Gills boss has his eye on a youngster from the Premier League and starts the week at the front of the queue in a bid to tempt the striker to Priestfield.

“We have got permission to talk to him,” said Evans, of the unnamed forward.

“I am meeting their (club's) sporting director and the young man on Monday (today). Where that goes I don’t know.

“We are in the hat with five or six clubs. I have to try and convince him that I can see him playing in League 1 and scoring goals for Gillingham. Normally when when I sit down with a player I can convince them to come.

“We will be in the hat, one or two clubs you would say are bigger than us in terms of resources and attendances, some are around where we are but we are in the mix and the fact they asked for me to speak to him first gives me a chance.”

There is hope a new man could be in before the weekend match with Ipswich Town.

Leading scorer Vadaine Oliver is back from a long lay-off while John Akinde missed out at the weekend through injury. Evans wants at least one more senior front-man to give him more options.

Commenting on his makeshift striker McKenzie, Evans said: “He has played as a number 10 and scored as a 10 as well, so he can play there.

"He is one of the boys who nobody wants to play against in training because wherever you play him, he is a real handful and you can play him in any position, except in goal! He gives you everything he has got."

Evans spoke with Gillingham chairman Paul Scally on Friday and again before the game at MK Dons on Saturday about his transfer hopes. Those meetings were positive.

The Gills boss said: “I probably have the most honest relationship with the chairman than any other manager. We say it as it is. Sometimes I say it in the wrong way but we have had some real open discussions about what we need.

“The chairman is going to make some calls about one or two others things we want to do.

“We don’t sit there with money, we are going to have to really wheel and deal and see what we can do, but the one thing I have always done as a manager, you have to respect the position of the club and never put it in any form of bother.

“Bolton are buying strikers for £300-400,000, it’s a club I love dearly and where I started, two years ago without Sharon Brittain stepping in they were going bust. That is the league we are in, with teams like Bolton who will pay that kind of money.”