Gillingham midfielder Jack Payne insists he is glad to be back playing after a ten week lay-off.

The 19 year old central midfielder capped a fine performance against Bournemouth last weekend in the FA Cup with a 35 yard strike that helped the Gills earn a replay back at Priestfield on Tuesday night.

Being back in the side is Payne’s main long term goal, but admitted that scoring his great goal was “an added bonus”:

“It was nice to score as I had been out for 10 weeks on Saturday and it was just an added bonus,” he said. “The 10 weeks were hard for me. I kept coming back and then I would have a setback and miss another couple of weeks.”

“Last week I was told I may have a chance of playing but the gaffer didn’t tell me until Friday, so it was a nice surprise.”

Payne has attracted a lot of attention in his short career already stacking up 65 appearances for The Gills and he has forced manager Andy Hessenthaler to warn off potential buyers in the transfer window.

Whether he retains his position this weekend for the trip to Aldershot at the weekend is open to debate, however who would bet against him being part of a three man midfield alongside Charlie Lee and Danny Jackman with Frank Nouble and Jo Kuffour certain to come back into the starting line up.

Picture supplied by Ed Boyden.