Gillingham loan man Trae Coyle showed what he could do on Tuesday night against his own team.

The forward is on loan at Gillingham from Arsenal and had the opportunity to show both management teams what he was about, and he didn’t disappoint.

Coyle scored one goal and only a contentious offside flag denied him a second. He was lively throughout and came through unscathed after being on the end of a couple of heavy challenges.

Reacting to the team’s performance, Gills assistant boss Paul Raynor was reluctant to pick out individuals after a positive showing, but Coyle was certainly a stand-out.

Raynor said: “We have seen flashes of that from Trae since he has come in but he is getting used to us now and what we want from him.

“I thought he had a fantastic cameo performance and made a big difference on Saturday (in the FA Cup fightback against Woking) and he got his goal on Tuesday. He was involved in the play, he showed real pace and every time he got the ball he looked a threat. I am delighted with Trae.”

The 19-year-old has only started three of Gillingham’s 11 league matches, coming off the bench on four other occasions. He’ll be hoping his last few performances are a springboard into the first XI.

“He has had a bit of a stop, start beginning to his career at Gillingham,” Raynor said.

“He came in and scored a goal against Wigan, he was a little unfortunate to go out when Dominic Samuel came in and scored a few goals, but he has been waiting for his opportunity and I thought he grasped it.

“He grasped it on Saturday against Woking and he certainly grasped it with his goal and he always looked a real threat.”

He’s one of several young loan recruits at the Gills and Raynor accepts there will be inconsistency in their performances.

He said: “They are young players and they are going to be a bit inconsistent but they are here to learn their trade. It is a young squad, they are learning on the job and we have to get results on the job, which isn’t always easy but I was really pleased with the performance, just disappointed to lose on penalties.”

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