Sheppey United will hope to get Gillingham’s teenage defender Alex Giles involved this weekend after an injury-hit start to his loan move.

Giles picked up a nasty cut to his head during his first training session with the Ites and concussion protocols meant he was sidelined for a period.

He returned to the field on Friday, playing half an hour for Gillingham’s youth team - which meant he was unable to play at the weekend for Sheppey - and he also featured for them in the FA Youth Cup at Priestfield on Monday.

Sheppey boss Jack Midson is now looking forward to having Giles available as his side play the first of three successive away games in Isthmian South East, beginning with a trip to fourth-from-bottom Lancing this Saturday.

Midson said: “He is a young lad but big and strong and he is like a man already. We could have done with him earlier but he will be back in for selection against Lancing.”

Fellow Gills youth player Sam Gale - who impressed on loan earlier this season - could be back when his academy commitments ease over the Christmas period.

Sheppey head into the weekend with back-to-back home defeats behind them.

A 4-2 reverse to Burgess Hill last Tuesday was followed by a 3-1 home loss to Cray Valley at the weekend.

“It was a bit of a reality check for us after getting promoted and where we are at, really,” Midson said.

“We had the buzz of winning games and beating Faversham but I think that was a polite slap in the face and a reminder of not getting too carried away. We have been promoted and we are competing against clubs like Ramsgate and clubs with double the budget.”

At home to Burgess Hill, Sheppey conceded three goals in a seven-minute spell which was hard to come back from but they got close, with Luke Frost and Tom Hanfrey netting - only for another goal from the visitors to end hopes of a comeback.

Back at Holm Park on Saturday, a goal from Danny Leonard put Midson’s side in front but the visitors struck twice before the break and again after the restart to win it.

With just one win from eight home league games, heading out for a trio of fixtures is not a problem for Sheppey. Following their trip to Lancing they play Hythe on Tuesday and Three Bridges on Saturday, December 10. All three sides are towards the bottom of the table.

Midson said: “We are better away from home. I don’t know why, it can only be the mentality. Maybe the pressure is off slightly when we go away but we also have a nice 3G pitch and we had it a bit last year - people turn up and think ‘this is nice, we can get it down and play’.

“It can work as a disadvantage because good footballing sides, like Cray, they passed it around us and we struggled to get near them.”

Midson hasn’t stopped looking for fresh recruits but admits money talks.

He said: “We have been offered players but again we are competing money-wise against big clubs. It is not for the want of trying. I have been looking for certain areas. You can’t always get what you want and unfortunately a lot of the time it does come down to money.

“We treat people right, we have got a good buzz around the place, a nice little club but if someone is offered more money somewhere else then they go there.”

With England playing Wales last night (Tuesday) Midson took the opportunity to have some team bonding, rather than training, watching the World Cup game together.

Midson said: “A lot of them were a bit leggy after a tough November so it was probably best to rest, but I can’t justify days off so we got together and watched the game.

“Having a proper chat, a bit of team bonding with some food and drink can sometimes be just as important as time on the training field.”