Apart from one lined up, Gillingham manager Steve Evans has admitted the club are unlikely to make additional signings in the next seven days following the 1-0 loss at Plymouth Argyle on the weekend.

The 88th minute defeat was a real blow to a Gillingham side that looked likely to have held on for their second point in the space of seven days, but had to return to Devon with nothing to show for their efforts.

A makeshift and threadbare side is already creaking at the seams and Evans is having to make do with what he’s got as Ben Reeves, Alex MacDonald and Rob McKenzie are all out with injuries, whilst Ryan Jackson and Stuart O’Keefe picked up knocks at the weekend.

With a trip to AFC Wimbledon up next on Tuesday night, going into the game with just one point from a possible six in League One isn’t the perfect start to the season Gillingham fans would have been hoping for.

More worryingly, there seems little if nothing left in the budget to bolster the squad, a squad that’s already looking like it could struggle against sides with much bigger budgets in the league.

One glimpse of optimism is the youth players that came in and did so well against Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup last Tuesday night. The likes of Gerald Sithole and Harvey Lintott have shown they could have real futures in the game, but they’re not tried and tested at League One level yet.

For fans that have watched the opening three games of the season, it’s glaringly obvious that Gillingham need another striker to partner Vadaine Oliver up front, with the loan market still an option for Evans.

The next few weeks could well go a long way to defining Gillingham’s season and the future ahead for the club with Evans admitting he needs more additions to be competitive.

He said: “We are devastated with injuries in a senior squad of 16 players so we must find away to patch up until we get those lads back. We need our players all available to us to compete in League 1 this season such is the strength of the teams and the financial muscle they have.”

Evans had hinted he would see one addition at some point this week, but when asked whether there would be more coming into Priestfield in the coming seven days, he said: “That is very unlikely.”

That’s a very worrying, short response from Evans and it’s started alarm bells ringing among the Gills faithful.