Gillingham vice captain Armani Little is closing in on a return to fitness and manager Mark Bonner believes he’s just the type of player they need right now.
Saturday’s trip to Swindon Town might come too soon for the midfielder, who has impressed since his summer move from Wimbledon, but there’s an outside chance he could be available.
“Armani’s been out on the grass today, working a little bit,” said Bonner, as he looked ahead to the weekend game.
“He’s probably had ten days off his feet really so whether or not he trains tomorrow (Friday) is still a bit up in the air.”
Little is the only one from the group of injured players that is likely to be pushing for the weekend squad.
“He’s obviously the sort of player that drives the team,” Bonner said. “Whenever he’s back it will be a real boost to us.
“Whether it is this weekend, I don’t know, it might be too soon, but he’s certainly the type of player that you want. He can move and gets around the pitch really well, gives you a huge energy in your team.
“He plays with the personality that you need. Certainly, when you’re having tough times, you need people with that grit and resilience and he’s got it in abundance.
“There’s probably a couple missing from the squad at the moment that have got that.
“Robbie’s (McKenzie) has given us that in the early part of the season, Nev (Elliott Nevitt) definitely has got that about him.
“There’s players to come into the team further down the line that will give us that. But in the end, whether they’re there or not, the opportunity falls to other people.
“Those people are players that are either desperate to play or have been wanting opportunities.
“When they come in you have to find that level yourself. Sometimes you have to find it when you haven’t got your own rhythm and when the team’s a little bit out of rhythm as well.
“That’s the challenge for all of us to try and find a way. So that’s what we’re doing.
“Whether Armani’s with us or not this weekend, the qualities that he has, others have got to show because the team needs it.”
Bonner’s likely to still be without keeper Glenn Morris, although he is getting closer and was training with coach Deren Ibrahim on Thursday.
Left-back Max Clark is suspended for the weekend after picking up a fifth booking of the season in the loss against Newport County. Shad Ogie is the most likely player to fill the void.
George Lapslie is another weekend doubt after limping off on Tuesday night with an ankle injury.
McKenzie, Aaron Rowe, Bradley Dack, Nevitt and Josh Andrews remain out while Joe Gbode also picked up a knock in the week but is expected to be able to shrug it off.
Bonner said: “He hobbled through the later stages (of Tuesday’s game) but he’s been out on the grass today (Thursday) and he seems to be over that hopefully so we’re hopeful that that’s okay.”
