Oli Hawkins’ comeback from injury is on hold again after he broke down in a midweek practice match.

The Gillingham striker looked to be on the road to recovery from a heel condition known as plantar fasciitis after a place on the bench in the weekend League 2 match and a run-out in the B team.

That game on Tuesday, against Millwall, didn’t end well for the 31-year-old as he pulled up midway through the opening half.

Manager Neil Harris, speaking at his pre-game press conference on Thursday afternoon, admits they again have no time-scale on when the former Portsmouth and Mansfield forward will be fit.

Harris said: “Oli had to come off unfortunately, he is not right and he is not going to be right for a period of time now.

“We have followed every protocol that we can but as I have said before, plantar fasciitis is a horrible injury, there is no right or wrong with it, players have to go at their own tempo.

“Hawks has had every emotion going and he has been really gutted this week.

“He put himself out there on Tuesday and he was on the bench the other day, he was there as a specialist on Saturday, whether he could come on for 10 minutes to defend in our own box or 10 minutes to attack in their box, those are the qualities he brings, real leadership qualities as well in his own way.

“He is a great character in the changing room, we have all wanted him to be fit, he put himself forward last week and again wanted to play in the week but it’s not to be for Hawks.

“Unfortunately for us we will miss him for a period of time, how long? We don’t know but it is not for a period of weeks.”

Hawkins hasn’t played all season for the Gills, having first picked up the injury during the pre-season trip to Como.

Fellow striker Lewis Walker also played in the Millwall game, having been out since picking up an injury in the first game of pre-season, at Dover.

He lasted just over half an hour on Tuesday.

“It was a great exercise,” said Harris.

“He will play again here against Dartford next Tuesday (in a friendly) and we will assess a plan for him then.

“Lewis Walker hasn’t played a lot of football in a long time now, if we are honest we are probably looking for a loan move to the National Leahue, initially, before then assessing where he is after a run of games.”