Gillingham captain Kyle Dempsey could be the best midfield man in League 1 according to his manager.

Steve Evans says he put the miles in to bring Dempsey to the Gills this summer and the skipper is now showing his quality, aided with a first goal for the club in the midweek win over AFC Wimbledon.

“He is a Championship player,” said Evans of the 25-year-old former Fleetwood player.

“He went out on the opening day of the season when he rolled his ankle, out for four or five weeks, and we badly missed him. He is such a brilliant professional and he works so hard.

“He cares, he moved down to Kent and he lives the project, it is why when I sat down with the chairman (in the summer) and he asked for names, I said, ‘just get me Dempsey’.

“We had to work hard and I had to travel to Cumbria a few times to talk to him and his mum and dad. He has a big family and they love their football.

“He is getting better, he is progressing and he looks after himself. The longer the season goes Kyle Dempsey will become one of the best, if not the best, players in the middle of the park in League 1.”

Dominic Samuel was also on the scoresheet against Wimbledon and is another player Evans believes is improving. The former Blackburn man tucked away Connor Ogilvie’s cross on the volley to win Tuesday’s game.

Evans said: “He is capable of that. We need to get him sharper. It took a long time to get him fit, up to the fitness levels of the rest of the group, and we have bad to be careful.

“But there are not many people who could have put that cross into the net on the full volley like that, that is the quality Dominic has got.”

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