Midfielder Tom O’Connor is almost certain to miss Gillingham’s trip to Rochdale after picking up an injury in the early part of the week.

He pulled up with a hamstring strain during a training session and underwent scans on Tuesday to find out just how serious the injury is.

“He is struggling a bit,” said Gills boss Steve Evans. “We won’t know until Friday really whether that is going to have settled down or not but we have options there.”

O’Connor is on loan from Southampton and has only just had that deal extended for the rest of the campaign.

The Gills currently have five loan players in their squad, all of whom are playing regularly. A long-term injury for O’Connor could mean Evans dips back into the loan market for back-up.

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The Gills have another eight days before the January transfer window closes and Evans is hoping to add another three new faces – having recently brought in Ipswich forward Jordan Roberts.

A centre-back who can fill in elsewhere, a winger who can play on either flank and a striker were all on his wishlist as he went into the weekend.

Evans said: “We have a fantastic dressing room and we need to make sure that when we bring someone in we have done as much due diligence as we can.

“It is not just a case of ‘let’s get the deal done’. You go and ask people who have managed them, coached them or played with them, just to check we are not putting any bombs in the dressing room.

“We don’t want choir-boys, we want people with character, at the same time we want to know from the lads’ perspective that he will quickly become one of them.”