Doug Loft is pushing hard to return to action against his former club this weekend.

The Gills skipper hasn’t played since making a first-half appearance at Folkestone in pre-season a month ago.

He was due to train this week ahead of a game against Port Vale on Saturday.

Gillingham are facing the team Loft once captained but boss Justin Edinburgh doesn’t think that will make any difference to his recovery.

Edinburgh said: “Doug is progressing well but it is regardless about who it is against."

Striker Cody McDonald isn’t now set to be ready for another week.

Edinburgh will be hoping Emmanuel Osadebe can recover from a calf strain that kept him out of Tuesday night’s Capital One cup game at Plymouth.

“He had a tight calf,” said the Gills manager, explaining his absence. “The lad wanted to play but we need to be cautious.”

Aaron Morris is another player fighting to be back in contention. A knock last weekend kept him out in the week.