“The hardest management job that anyone can experience” – the view of Gillingham boss Steve Evans as The Gills prepares for their first away trip since March as they head for the DW Stadium to face relegated Wigan Athletic.

After four home games to start the season in three different competitions, the Gills head North with their charismatic boss admitting, “This is without a doubt the hardest management job that anyone can experience; the training ground isn’t ready because of COVID and irrigation problems so we’re having to find other training facilities.”

“We’re short on bodies in terms of numbers and quite right for the Chairman to have concerns about spend in these times when as yet, the Premier League, for some reason, have not come and helped the lower League clubs, it’s a mystery to all of us, but they’ve not and as of yet we can talk about spectators but that changes every day.”

“But is certainly the hardest management that anyone could experience, it tests me; and I’d like to think at my age and with my time in the game that I’m very experienced. So, if its testing me, I dread to think what it’s like testing another young manager.”

It’s been a tough week on the injury front for the Gills boss, and he confirmed the worse fears from Tuesday’s win over Coventry that Stuart O’Keefe’s season is over before it began. Evans said, “Stuart is out for the season, that’s confirmed as a broken leg and some ligament damage and it’s a shame for such a nice kid.”

“He sees a consultant on Monday and I would imagine that he’ll be operated on by the middle of next week and then it’ll be all about recovery which will mean him probably getting back April/May, that tells me it’s the season!”

Turning his attention to Kyle Dempsey, the news from the boss wasn’t much better. “With Kyle it could be six or seven weeks,” Evans confirmed.

“We’re waiting to see how his recovery process is. He’s probably looking ahead of schedule but when you talk about the ankle you sometimes go two steps forward and one back. It’s a small ligament in his ankle, no breaks, he “just” rolled his ankle.”

“He won a great challenge, he won the ball and played forward but rolled his ankle and it was just the way that his body took him over. There was no-one to look at for that, but it was just part and parcel of the game, and I can assure all the Gills fans that every day Kyle is out, he’s hurting.”

“He’s not missed a day at the training ground, he’s jogging around the training ground on Thursday, so jogging is way ahead of schedule for the time that he’s been working on it.”

“So, we’re probably not expecting to see Kyle for the five or six weeks and obviously we’re not going to see Stuart for the season. We were already looking to add one more in there anyway so in an ideal world we’d have one more, it’s no hidden secret that we won’t be able to fill the bench so we are short on the player front.”

“We can’t just take the approach of going out and sign any player, we have to add players who fit the mandate, who fit the strategy and it’s not always going to be young because we need some experience too.”

“The strategy of course was young, hungry, athletic and I think the boys that we have already been brought into the building, the two Arsenal boys, the Celtic boy, the Coventry boy, all display that!”

Evans continued, “We’re trying to add up top desperately, we lost Brandon; Bristol Rovers came into town and,” Evans said with a rueful grin, “put the balaclavas on and put him in the car and drove him away!”

“Well done them, listen I’ve got nothing but admiration; if I had the money Bristol Rovers have, I’d do the same.”

“Brandon’s a good kid but it still doesn’t make it right from our point of view, it doesn’t make us as effective as we know because we’re searching the market now and hopefully we’ll be able to do some business.”

“Those deals just aren’t ready and available as there’s very few players out there, we are in talks with one and we’re very, very close; it won’t happen for Saturday but we are very, very close so it maybe that we have good news for our supporters on Monday, but I have to temper that with the word “maybe”!”

One person through the door though on Thursday was midfielder Josh Eccles, brought in from Championship side Coventry City.

Having played against The Gills at Priestfield on Tuesday, the Sky Blue will wear a darker strip having signed on loan and Evans was glad to have added to his threadbare squad:

“We knew Josh from last season, and one thing that you can’t fail to be impressed with is the job that Mark Robbins did (at Coventry) last season, and his recruitment during the summer. So, I did think at some stage there would be a young man looking perhaps at a loan opportunity – his agent confirmed it a few days before we played them on Tuesday.”

“We then watched him with perhaps a keener eye than perhaps we would at other times, and him and the boy who played alongside him in the middle were very impressive.”

“I spoke to Mark after the game and he said it was something that they could look at; we spoke Wednesday morning – young Josh knew nothing about it and we got permission to speak to him and immediately he wanted to come and immediately we wanted to be part of what we’re trying to do.”

“I’m grateful to Mark and the Chief Executive of Coventry City for allowing it to happen so quickly. Josh got home very late on the Coventry team coach and was back in Medway last night (Wednesday) to train this morning and he was impressive as we expected.”