Luke Rooney brought down by Barnet on Tuesday Picture: Barry Goodwin

By Luke Cawdell

Luke Rooney admits he is disappointed in himself for failing to find the target in recent outings.

The young forward has created several openings but hasn’t scored from open play since the 3-0 win over Plymouth back in August.

"I am my biggest critic," said the 20-year-old, who in the last few games has mesmerised the opposition defence but has been unable to hit the back of the net.

"I am harsh on myself and I should be scoring those even though I create the chances myself. I should be tucking them away and I’m disappointed they haven’t hit the net."

A chance midway through the first half against Barnet on Tuesday night typified his luck of late. He skipped past several defenders with a stunning run but the keeper managed to turn the shot wide with his foot.

He said: "On Saturday the keeper got a touch and it missed by inches and the same happened again on Tuesday. I was gutted. Who knows where we would have been had those gone in?"

Rooney made his seventh straight start against Barnet, giving him the run of games in the side. Following back-to-back defeats, he is now eager to help the Gills bounce back on Saturday against Port Vale.

He said: "It won’t be easy but we feel confident if we perform like we did in the first half (against Barnet) and carry that on for 90 minutes, or at least take our chances, we will have too much for them."