Harvey Lintott was a name on the bench for Gillingham that not all fans will have been familiar with.

The 17-year-old right-sided defender was plucked from the youth team to fill a hole in the squad for the League 1 match against Rochdale on Saturday.

First team boss Steve Evans is in the market for a new defender and was glad to have been able to give the teenager a taste of the first team environment.

Speaking about the youth player, Evans said: “We like him, he is a big, strong, powerful right sided player. He can play comfortably at right-back and he may develop as a right-sided centre back.

“But we had no other players, simple as that. We had to look at the academy. Anybody who is with us has to be worthy of the chance.

“Paul Raynor (the assistant manager) and Craig Stone (the youth boss) flagged him up to me three weeks ago. He has been in (training) every day with us and he is a man in a kid’s body. From our point of view we want to develop our own if we can.”

The Gills have fellow former youth team players Jack Tucker playing regular in defence while goalkeeper Joe Walsh is understudy to Jack Bonham.

Evans is hopeful a new defender can sign before their midweek match against Crewe, saying: “We are hoping to do a deal with a central defender. It is never done until it is done but we are hopeful.”

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