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More on KentOnline
Gillingham are nursing a number of knocks ahead of their FA Cup second round clash with Doncaster on Sunday.
They went into a competitive league battle against AFC Wimbledon last weekend straight off the back of an extra-time victory over Sunderland in the competition’s first round.
Stuart O’Keefe hobbled out of the weekend clash with a hamstring injury and is one of several players nursing injuries ahead of the cup tie.
Following the game at Kingsmeadow, Gills boss Steve Evans said they had “a host of injuries” and that he was expecting four or five to be missing for the cup match.
The squad were still being assessed in the middle part of the week, with assistant Paul Raynor saying: “We have put a lot into the last few weeks, with the high intensity and the workloads, and the way we play is intense.
“There were a lot of niggles and bangs over the weekend but we will dust everyone off, get those that need it scanned and massaged, and try and get everyone out there. It is going to be touch and go to see who will be available.
“We will try and freshen them up before the end of the week.”
Gillingham had a behind-closed-doors match on Wednesday in a bid to keep the players who haven’t had minutes recently match fit.
Raynor added: “We’ll get game time into the ones who need speeding up ahead of the weekend. It is all panning out, we know what we want to do and what we are going to do to try and get a strong side out on Sunday.
“Training will be quite light for those guys in the next couple of days and then we will have another look later in the week to see who is ready to go.”
Midfielder Matty Willock was expected to play on Wednesday. The former Manchester United youngster has been involved with the matchday squad in recent weeks, but only from a fitness point of view.
He’s only played 45 minutes for the Gills since signing in the summer, having his time at the club hampered by injury.
Raynor said: “He has been out a long time and do we throw him straight into the deep end? Let’s see. We will see how he trains and plays. I know it’s an old cliche, but he will be like a new signing, particularly someone of that quality.”
Ben Pringle starts the first of a two-game ban following his dismissal at AFC Wimbledon for dissent.
