Manager Steve Evans has plans in place should a club meet their valuation of Gillingham defender Jack Tucker.

Evans won’t want to lose the talented 21-year-old centre-half, and doesn't expect him to leave, but knows the club will have to cash in if a sizeable offer arrives before the transfer deadline tonight.

Tucker has become a regular at the back under Evans and has had a brilliant start to the season, clearly enjoying having the experience of Max Ehmer back alongside him. That form won’t have gone unnoticed to the many admirers elsewhere.

“There has been lots of Championship interest in Jack Tucker,” confirmed boss Steve Evans.

“If it ever got to a level where I felt the club had to take it (an offer) then I would say what my opinion is to the chairman.

“We already have people in our minds if that was to happen, but I don’t see that happening.”

Homegrown defender Tucker might prefer to stay and see his contract out until the summer, rather than making a hasty exit from a club he’s been at since a young age.

Evans has no doubts the player is already capable of playing on a bigger stage.

He said: “He could play in the Championship tomorrow, easy, and he is getting better every week.

“I had a young man called Ben White at Peterborough on loan and he is that kind of level. [White moved from Brighton to Arsenal for a reported £50m in the summer].

“Ben has matured since I had him, (Leeds head coach) Marcelo Bielsa takes huge credit in how he developed him (after a season there on loan), but you look at Ben’s credentials, he is a top lad and a top player, Tucker has all of that.”

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