by Luke Cawdell

Frenchman Romain Vincelot returned to Brighton this week as his loan spell with Gillingham expired.

Gills boss Martin Allen thanked the 27-year-old, pictured, for his efforts after making 11 appearances for the League 2 leaders, scoring the winning goal against AFC Wimbledon on his debut.

Allen said: "He has done a great job for our club and we all gave him a round of applause the previous day in training and thanked him for everything.

"I am sure the supporters of Gillingham will say he has given absolutely everything. He hasn’t been a loan signing who has wasted our time and money, he has played a tremendous role in the special season we are having on and off the field.

"He is a great guy; a real character from day one and on Christmas Eve we had a French breakfast with croissants at the training ground. He has been a real popular character on and off the field."

Vincelot missed out on the New Year's Day trip to Southend with a slight knee injury he had been carrying for several days.

"That’s the reason he didn’t play," said Allen. "We shook hands on it, he was 90% but not 100% and, God bless, his loan was up.

"If it was the Champions League final he probably would have played but you can probably get a drift from how I am, that if you are not 100% you don’t play."