Gillingham will hope Alex MacDonald can return to training next week after testing negative for Covid-19.

The midfielder was left out of the squad for the weekend trip to Wigan Athletic after becoming ill. He was isolated and tested.

His absence meant the Gills didn’t have enough players to fill the bench at Wigan.

With Kyle Dempsey and Stuart O’Keefe both already out, the Gills were left with just 17 senior professionals to choose from. Eight of those were 22 or younger.

Speaking about MacDonald’s absence, Evans said: “We played him the other night ( against Coventry ) and he wasn’t well after the game.

“We obviously had him immediately isolated and tested for this nasty virus but he was negative on that. He has what I would describe as a bad cold.

“We will hopefully see him back on the training ground on Monday. Had he been there on Saturday we would have filled the bench but there was nobody else, only myself and Paul Raynor (the assistant manager), but that’s not going to happen.

“We love him and he would have been leading the smiles in the changing room and he has a big part to play, like they all have.”

Positive Covid tests have already been made at one of Gills' League 1 rivals, with Peterborough United losing two players, including star striker Siriki Dembele, from last weekend's squad because of the virus. Two more of their players had to self-isolate because they were house-mates of Dembele.

Report: Wigan Athletic 2 Gillingham 3

Reaction: 'The margin should have been bigger'