Gillingham manager Steve Evans admits it was him who turned down the chance to sign a big-money striker last week.

Chairman Paul Scally was prepared to do a deal to sign a new player ahead of the weekend but Evans said he wasn’t prepared to blow apart their pay structure.

The Gills are currently on an impressive unbeaten run –eight now after a 1-1 draw with Oxford United – and didn’t want to rock the boat.

Evans said: “Our chairman wanted me to sanction a player on Thursday and it would have taken an individual’s wages really high for this club and people can believe it or not, I said no.

“The chairman has been absolutely fantastic. I think he was frustrated at not being able to give me one of the players that I wanted.”

Evans didn’t name the player but he’s been heavily linked with Lincoln City striker John Akinde, who was left out of their squad at the weekend.

He insisted he wasn’t at Lincoln’s 5-1 win over Bolton last week, with the rumour mill going into overdrive.

Commenting on his whereabouts, a jovial Evans said: “There were reports that I was at Lincoln (last ) Tuesday but I wasn’t, I was at Burton Albion!

“I had my daughter ringing me up saying ‘I thought you were in Burton, near Derby,’ and I was! She said her mate and boyfriend had said I was in Lincoln.

"If I do have a lookalike, he needs to go on a diet!”

• Evans' threat does the trick
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The departure of Ouss Cisse, moving on loan to Leyton Orient, helped free up some space in the budget to give the Gills extra leverage.

Evans said: “It (Cisse’s move) created a little bit of money and the chairman said ‘let’s do it then’ and I was the one who said I don’t really want someone like that in the dressing room.

“All these lads earn roughly the same and they are committed. Players speak, same as they do in any work.

“They are a great group and we don’t want to be turning around and saying ‘yes it sounds great we’ve made a signing’ and in six months I am not here with people asking why was that decision made?

“I think I always made the right decisions when I was at Mansfield and Rotherham and at Posh where I was involved in saying yes or no.”

Evans will continue to search for a striker that fits the bill but hasn’t ruled out revisiting the one he didn’t get last week, adding: “That decision may change at the end of the window if we don’t get the ones we want. I am sure we will strengthen the group.”

He had been hoping to get a couple of players in before the visit of Oxford and admitted to being left frustrated in a move for another player.

Evans said: “When I spoke to the press (last) Saturday at Peterborough I was almost certain that I would have someone in on the Monday, signed on Sunday, and it didn’t happen.

“The player never changed the goal posts, we certainly didn’t, but his current club changed the goal posts, dramatically so, in a really disrespectful way to the player.

“We have to live with that. His parent club is entitled to do that, but we will hopefully have a player or two in this week and we can add a bit of quality.”

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