Josh Andrews get off the mark on Saturday and the Gillingham manager believes their big striker will continue to improve this season.
Andrews, 23, has been a regular starter for Ainsworth since the start of the season and bagged his first goal in eight appearances for the Gills in their weekend game at Bromley.
The Gills striker wasn’t short of chances in the game – with five attempts at goal during his 70 minutes on the pitch – firing a decent chance at the keeper in the first half and nodding wide from Max Clark’s cross in the second.
His perseverance paid off, finding the net when he flicked on Remeao Hutton’s throw past the keeper to pull a goal back for the Gills.
With six touches in the Bromley box and a trio of headed clearances at the opposite end, it was a busy afternoon for the powerful front-man.
“Josh is a work in progress,” said his manager.
“He’s young. He’s been away for two years. He’s not played.
“It’s his first goal this season. He’s been waiting a while for that, and that will give him loads of confidence.
“I think that we’ll see a better version of him as the season goes on.”
Andrews still has plenty to learn, but he’s certainly looking leaner than when he first came to the club, a start that was beset by injury issues.
He’s played 416 minutes so far this season, with 15 shots, four of them on target. He is now off the mark with the goal against Bromley.
Ainsworth is delighted to see his summer recruit Sam Vokes take up an advisory role for his younger and far less experienced team-mate.
The Gills boss said: “We’ve got some good people in that dressing room now.
“I think Josh can be very honest, and sometimes you have to be clever in this game. He’s got to learn the tricks, but I’m having Josh all day. He’s a top, top lad.
“He’s got someone like Sam Vokes to go through the clips and I thought when Vokes came on, he attracted players, but he was clever because he ran players under the ball, thinking, ‘I’m not even going to head this’. The ball’s just going to go through.
“That happened for the (equalising) goal, actually. It went just through for Garath McCleary (who then won the penalty). It was very clever.”
