Gillingham will have several missing strikers for their final game of the season but manager Gareth Ainsworth won’t be short of options.
The Gills head to newly promoted Port Vale next Saturday, but won’t have in-form striker Joe Gbode for the trip after his red card this weekend, and there are also a couple set to miss out because of injury.
Oli Hawkins couldn’t play against Swindon because of a broken hand picked up on Easter Monday, and now Elliott Nevitt has also picked up an injury, ending the afternoon wearing a protective boot.
Speaking about those missing, Ainsworth said: “Nev got a crack in the first half, the first minute of the game.
“Fair play. He played 45 minutes with a whack on his foot. (The boot) is very precautionary, but obviously you don’t like seeing that.
“Oli Hawkins was out (on Saturday) and probably misses these last two games with his finger, and obviously Joe Gode has been sent off.
“We are down a couple of strikers next week, so we’ll see.
“I’ll come up with some fantastic formation that maybe… I’m not saying I’m going to play the false nine like Pep, but we’ll have to come up with something.
“We’ve still got a couple of good players, Asher (Agbinone) and Jimmy-Jay Morgan are some good attacking options there and a couple of the boys didn’t get on (against Swindon), Jayden Clarke and Jack Nolan.
“We have attacking players in the building. It’s just now probably finding a way of how we get them on the pitch.”
Gbode and Jonny Williams will both serve a one match ban after their dismissals, both for second bookable offences.
Crystal Palace loan striker Agbinone hasn’t featured in the last two matchday squads and was an unused sub in the three previous. He spent a large chunk of his loan spell back at his parent club after picking up an injury.
Chelsea loan man Morgan’s seen a lot more action under Ainsworth and will be expected to play a prominent role against Port Vale.
Jacob Wakeling, on loan from Peterborough, hasn’t been involved since a couple of sub appearances in Ainsworth’s first two games in charge. He might hope this is a chance to get a few more minutes of action before his time at the club expires.
Ainsworth did get to see midfield pair Ethan Coleman and Dom Corness in action for the first time since becoming manager, with both coming off the bench on Saturday.
