Gillingham are hoping Matty Willock doesn’t become the latest player to drop out of the squad through injury.

Manager Steve Evans has been left with little to choose from in the midfield department after losing captain Kyle Dempsey to an ankle injury and Stuart O’Keefe a broken leg.

Willock, has suffered hamstring problems last season to limit his opportunity, was taken off before the break on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup match at Stoke City.

The Gills were already short of numbers, unable to fill the bench for the third round match.

Evans is hoping their decision to take Willock off early means they have avoided any issues.

“He felt his hamstring was really tight and that can happen,” said the Gills boss.

“Matty hasn’t had a lot of minutes either so it can happen.

“Hopefully we got him off in time but that was disruptive. I thought the three in midfield had settled into the game well in the first half and I thought Matty controlled that right side to a degree. Scott (Robertson) and Henry (Woods) helped him enormously and he helped them.

“That blew the balance a bit but that’s another one in the treatment room so I don’t know how many players we’ll have for Saturday. It certainly won’t be a full bench but we are working hard to be ready for the big spenders in the league, outside of Peterborough.”

Evans will also have to assess first choice keeper Jack Bonham after he left behind on Wednesday with a back problem.

The manager said: “It wouldn’t do that kid any good to have left Medway at 8am on Wednesday on a team coach and then have a couple of hours on a strange bed in a hotel. I made that decision and I made the decision not to bring another goalkeeper in.”

Read more on the Gills;

• Goalkeeper gamble pays off for Gills

• Proud boss rues lack of quality

• Report: Cup runs ends at Stoke