Gillingham must balance the “risk and reward” of fielding George Lapslie against his former club this Saturday.
Lapslie, the Gills’ attacking midfielder, missed last weekend’s game at Doncaster due to a hamstring injury and is a doubt for the visit of Mansfield, with whom he played over 100 games before joining the Gills.
Lapslie played just 25 minutes against Morecambe the week before, scoring the first goal and assisting on the second before leaving with an injury. An early removal ensured no long-term damage, but the club must now assess if he is fit enough to play against Mansfield.
“He is desperate to play,” said manager Neil Harris, “but with a hamstring, you have to make sure you get the risk and reward right.”
It’s a rough one, and Dom (Jefferies) is no exception.
“As important as they are, we can’t afford to take risks and lose them for months; that would be a real shame.”
“We have to make sensible decisions and that is not just down to me, that’s the medical staff and support staff and players as well, we will have to see what the next 48 hours hold.”
Jefferies may be a step closer to a return after playing 45 minutes in a midweek friendly against Dartford, but he is also rehabilitating from a hamstring issue. He has missed the previous five league games.
“He trained Monday to be able to play some minutes,” Harris added.
“He trained on Monday in order to play some minutes on Tuesday night, and he is a lot healthier, he is further down the road (to recovery).”
Dom is an athlete, a sprinter, and it’s a hamstring issue, so we have to be careful, as the doctors constantly reminding me
“We’ve missed Dom Jefferies in the group, whether starting or coming off the bench; the impact he provides is critical.”
“There may be some gambling in the group, but we’re nine games in and in a very healthy position.” Last weekend, I played a form that fit the individuals we had available, hindered by the absence of other players in the same position.”
Tim Dieng is still out with a knee injury and will be out for the rest of October as he recovers from a tackle at Grimsby.
Harris felt the tackle deserved more than a yellow card.
He has received a response from the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) – the body that represents referees in England – regarding the incident, having questioned why Ethan Coleman received a red card for a foul against Colchester while Grimsby’s Danny Amos received a yellow after putting his player out for up to two months.
“I wrote asking about the challenge (at Grimsby) and how it compared to Ethan’s,” Harris explained. I didn’t get a reaction on how it compared, but they did say that after reviewing the incident, they didn’t think it was reckless, they didn’t think it was high, they didn’t think it was harming the opponent, and I stopped making referee reports because it’s totally rubbish.”
On a lighter side, Harris mentioned how Oli Hawkins, another former Mansfield player, has kept his spirits up despite his own injury troubles. The striker is out with a complex heel injury that has kept him out since preseason.
“Plantar fasciitis (the heel condition) is still the bugbear of his life at the moment,” Harris explained, “but he is in every day with the lads, joining in the banter and he has a ridiculous tash on the go at the moment, which is a great source of entertainment for everyone but that is important sometimes.”
“People like Hawks are capable.” Timmy is one of the most essential characters around the place. It will be critical to have those guys back in shape because they were such a crucial part of our success in the second half of last season.
“We want them back fit but there is no quick fix with either of them.”
Meanwhile, striker Lewis Walker had another run-out this week as he recovers from a pre-season knee injury.
Harris stated: “He’s been training for two and a half weeks, he played 30 minutes against Millwall (in a B team game) and 60 against Dartford and so we now feel he is in a position where he is a lot closer to the first team fold or will go out on loan for a period of time to get up to speed.”
Walker will almost certainly be loaned out to a National League team to acquire much-needed competitive minutes.
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