Steve Evans admitted he was gobsmacked to get the opportunity to sign Danny Lloyd and is pleased the player is showing why he’s rated highly.

Lloyd delivered the corner for Gillingham’s winner on Tuesday against Doncaster and ended up with the man-of-the-match award after another lively performance.

He played under Evans at Peterborough before making a move to Salford City for a six-figure fee. He went onto play for Tranmere before the Gills snapped him up on a free in the summer.

Commenting on Lloyd’s latest performance, Evans said: “If he is not a Duracell Bunny he is not very good and I told him that.

“I had him at Peterborough and he went for a lot of money to Salford. Gary Neville paid £300,000 for him, I think, and he did because of his efforts and his commitment and his passion and pace. He has the ability to get a goal and great technique and more importantly he is a wonderful kid.

“When we got the opportunity to bring him here I was really gobsmacked because it was late in the window and our fans have taken to him haven’t they. If our fans were picking the group they love he would be in it for sure.”

Another player who impressed Evans in midweek was John Akinde.

He said: “Everyone knows that when John Akinde turns up and puts that type of passion into his football he is virtually unplayable and I think in the second half he was unplayable at times. The Doncaster boys that were trying to mark him, they will have gone back to South Yorkshire and they will have sore legs and limbs because he gave them a tough evening.

“I said to John, I remember going to Peterborough United last season, he was absolutely wonderful. I had Darragh MacAnthony (chairman) talking about him and Barry Fry (director of football) raving about him and they were hurting because we went there and won. He was wonderful.

“When the big man plays like that he is a wonderful footballer, his strength and his power, and as a person I have great banter with John, he is a big character and I said to him, when you play like that you become unplayable and that is a great asset to have.”

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