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Gillingham are waiting on news of an injury to striker Brandon Hanlan following Tottenham defeat

00:00, 11 October 2018

Gillingham’s injury curse looks to have struck again.

The Gills finished with 10 men on Tuesday night as they lost 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Brandon Hanlon was the last of the three subs, sent on at 2-0 down to try and rescue something for the Gills, but he ended up limping off within 15 minutes of his introduction.

Brandon Hanlan in action against Tottenham just before pulling up with a hamstring injury Picture: Ady Kerry
Brandon Hanlan in action against Tottenham just before pulling up with a hamstring injury Picture: Ady Kerry

It’s another blow to the Gills who have been troubled by injuries since the early weeks of the season and already have key men unavailable ahead of Saturday's visit of Southend United.

Midfield pair Regan Charles-Cook and Billy Bingham both remain doubts while Barry Fuller missed training in the week with a knock and both Luke O’Neill and leading scorer Tom Eaves were both seen struggling at times on Tuesday night.

Coach Ian Cox is hopeful that Eaves and O’Neill will be fit to face Southend but Hanlan remains a doubt.

“Brandon will have to be assessed and we are not 100% sure at the moment,” said the coach after Tuesday’s defeat.

“It is not ideal when you have one of your players go off, especially with the weekend looming, it doesn’t give much time to recover for the game but hopefully the injuries won’t be too severe.

“If that’s the case we’re just going to have to crack on with it. It looked like a hamstring. He will be assessed and we will take if from there.”

Gills coach Ian Cox was on media duties this week following the defeat at Tottenham Picture: Ady Kerry
Gills coach Ian Cox was on media duties this week following the defeat at Tottenham Picture: Ady Kerry

The Gills’ management team have struggled for a settled side, with Bingham missing their last five league games and Charles-Cook unavailable for the same amount.

Cox said: “It has been frustrating, there are no two ways about it. We would have liked to have kept a settled team to help get some momentum and continuity but that hasn’t been the case.

“When you are faced with adversity it is up to the ones on the periphery of the team to step up and see if they can make it.”

Bingham and Charles-Cook have only been training lightly while on Fuller’s situation, Cox sounded optimistic, saying: “We took him out of training as a precautionary measure.”

He was also confident O’Neill and Eaves will be fine, adding: “They both came through unscathed, they looked to be alright.

"It is important we give the boys a little bit of recovery time and get them ready for Saturday, which is going to be vital for us, because we still need to be picking up points.”

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