Gillingham defender Christian Maghoma was given 90 minutes to prove to the scouts watching on Saturday that he was worth a punt.

Boss Steve Evans put the word out pre-match that he would be playing the 23-year-old centre-half against Leyton Orient and believes the performance should be enough to convince some of those looking on from League 2.

Former Spurs player Maghoma hadn’t previously featured for the Gills in pre-season after heading to Scotland for a trial. He’s fourth choice centre-half at present and Evans made him available for transfer at the end of the last campaign.

Evans said: “We wanted to give him 90 minutes because people were having a look at him and I thought he did okay.

“He is available. People were there, he has been circulated as being available and that will remain so.

“I wanted to play him, I told people I would play him, he got 90 minutes, he did alright. If you are a League 2 manager you are probably thinking ‘he could do me a job’. I am not so sure I will get too many calls from league 1.”

Maghoma only made 11 appearances for Gillingham last season, starting just four EFL games.

Connor Ogilvie, meanwhile, is being linked with a move to Portsmouth. He’s a free agent since turning down an offer at Gillingham but has remained at Priestfield this summer for pre-season with Evans hoping he stays if no other club reaches an agreement.

David Tutonda looks set to be the pick for left-back this season if, as expected, Ogilvie heads elsewhere. The former Bristol Rovers player may not have had a convincing display against Leyton Orient at the weekend but Evans highlighted why he was off the pace.

The Gills boss said: “David Tutonda didn’t have a good game in the first half but he only just came back from Covid on Saturday. It was his first day back. He just walked back onto the pitch and played 70 minutes.

"You could see his touch wasn’t there and his timing wasn’t there but his commitment was. We can get the rest back because we know he has got it. It is brilliant to have done the 70.”

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