Striker Oli Hawkins has moved a step closer to making a return - and there’s an outside chance he could be involved this weekend.

That was the hope of manager Neil Harris after the 31-year-old made a breakthrough last weekend in his battle with plantar fasciitis, which has been causing him considerable pain in his heel.

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Hawkins spent Saturday morning training with coach Keith Millen, while the senior squad prepared for their League 2 battle against Harrogate Town. A further update on his progress is expected on Thursday, ahead of Gillingham’s game with Morecambe.

Harris, speaking after their weekend match, was cautiously optimistic about the striker’s injury progress, having previously been unclear about when his front-man could return.

If he’s back, it will be a big boost for the Gills, both on and off the pitch.

Harris said: “Oli is a big personality in the group, a big personality in the changing room and I have never known a player get so much stick in the changing room, which brings banter and camaraderie, it is brilliant and we really miss him.

“He has been on the training pitch for three weeks, but we’ve never been able to get him up to a level to get rid of the pain in his heel, but he trained for 40 minutes last Thursday, didn’t train Friday but then trained for 45 minutes with Keith Millen on Saturday morning.

“He got through, it looks like pain-free, which means we can step him up.”

Hawkins gives Harris different options in attack.

He said: “Will he be ready (for Saturday)? Possibly, to have that option, for when teams camp in against us, just to have that option to hit him would be great, even if it’s for the last 15-20 minutes of a game.”

Harris will have Ethan Coleman back from suspension this weekend and Dom Jefferies (hamstring) is closing in on a return. Both have been a miss.

“Ethan is available, which is great,” said Harris, looking ahead to the next challenge.

“Dom is not going to be a million miles away. (Saturday) is possibly too soon, because it’s a hamstring injury and we have to be really careful with him, especially with how he runs.

“Two of the best players in our group (this season), in my opinion, have been Dom Jefferies and Ethan Coleman and it was no coincidence that we lost Dom Jefferies and we lost three games in a week.

“We lost Ethan Coleman, he couldn’t help Shaun Williams in that (defensive midfield) position and we lost three games in a week. It is important we get players back.”