Gillingham boss Steve Evans is thrilled to have given striker Dominic Samuel a new lease of life.

Samuel suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury just three games into his second season at Blackburn Rovers, keeping him out for the rest of that campaign. His first had started in a blaze of goals, scoring four times in his first six outings.

He worked his way back into the Championship team when football resumed after the Covid-19 lockdown but found himself looking for a new club this summer after Rovers manager Tony Mowbray decided against offering him a new deal.

Samuel looked set to sign for fellow Championship side Rotherham but that move never happened and Evans was delighted to get the opportunity to work with a striker who still has age on his side. At 26, Samuel has plenty to offer, as Saturday’s two-goal performance showed .

“Dominic will always score goals,” said Evans, following the striker’s impressive return to the Gills, where he previously impressed on loan during the 2015/16 season.

“He probably didn’t get the level of chances at Blackburn that we will make for him. He was unfortunate that when he went there he got an injury and he really fell back from it and you can see what it means to him, the lads are extremely pleased and I am delighted for him.

“That kid has cried himself to sleep a few times over the years but we believe in him.

“We were talking to people who look after Dominic for three months and I kept hoping and praying that nobody in the Championship would come.

“I think Dominic had spoken to me more times than the wife, but that is not unusual for players! But the good thing is he believed in us. He made the deal happen. He turned down more personal resources to go and play for a team in the Championship.”

Samuel was in the right place at the right time to force home from close-range. His second was a clinical finish.

On those goals, Evans said: “It was a fantastic corner from Scott Robertson, a brilliant run from Ogilvie and good retention play from Jack Tucker to put it back in. I was expecting Samuel there and whether he was going to get it was a bonus. We worked on him being in the middle of the goal.

“He has come in with a real workmanlike attitude, he had trained with us for the best part of a week, he is fitter and he went a bit longer. He stayed on the pitch a bit longer than we wanted, he said he didn’t want to come off, but he got tired. That game will benefit him greatly.”

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