Gillingham’s attacking options have taken a hit ahead of their match against a rejuvenated Cheltenham Town this weekend.

The Gills were missing attacking players Bradley Dack, Garath McCleary and Jonny Smith last Saturday and weekend goalscorer Seb Palmer-Houlden is also a doubt now for their next League 2 match.

Assistant boss Richard Dobson admits they are missing some quality players.

“We’re short on numbers at the moment,” he said.

“We’re short on good players, really good players who would be in our first XI, and that’s a bit of a loss for us.

“We need to get through it, and we need everybody pulling in the same direction.

“I ask the fans on Saturday to get behind us and help us through this period.”

Palmer-Houlden pulled out of their midweek EFL Trophy game after feeling a potential problem in his knee.

Cheltenham head into the weekend sitting third from bottom in League 2 but they won last weekend after reappointing former manager Steve Cotterill - a man who previously led the club to three promotions and into the Football League.

He took charge after former Gills player Michael Flynn got the sack in the wake of a 7-1 loss to Grimsby. Cheltenham won 2-0 against Fleetwood last weekend and head to Priestfield with renewed belief.

The Gills were beaten at Colchester in midweek and have lost their last two games in the league.

Dobson’s hoping a home match can give them the lift they need.

“I love playing at Priestfield,” he said.

“We need the fans behind us. We’ve been hit with injuries all of a sudden, so we’re a little bit short, which obviously affected our choice [on Tuesday] and the players that played.

“We’ll have a look at what damage has been done [against Colchester] on the injury front and obviously the GPS data that allows us to play certain players for a certain amount of minutes to minimise the risk. Once we’ve got all that information, we’ll have a look at what we’ve got Saturday.”

The Gills will be without striker Josh Andrews at the weekend through a one-match suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card at MK Dons.

That could mean Sam Vokes gets the nod to start. The 35-year-old hasn’t started a league game yet but scored in the EFL Trophy loss to Colchester.

A broken arm prior to joining the Gills meant he’s made a tentative start to his time at the club but the former Welsh international already has the best ‘shots on target per 90’ stats in the division.

“He’s one of the ones that we’re nursing along carefully,” said Dobson.

“He had a little bit of a knock in pre-season after coming back from his arm injury.

“We’ve just got to be careful with Vokes because we can’t overload him.

“We’re getting closer and closer to him having more match time and getting to a position where he might be able to start. [Tuesday] was just building him up again, getting 45 minutes under his belt, which he’s dealt with.”

That was his longest time on the pitch so far.

The Gills will hope to have the likes of Dack and McCleary back soon, along with captain Armani Little who hasn’t featured in the last four league games because of injury.

Fans might have to be more patient to see Wigan loan winger Jonny Smith back in action after he picked up a calf injury.

Dobson said: “We’ll have to assess that over the next week or so.

He added: “Someone’s disappointment is another person’s opportunity.”