Gillingham midfielder Jack Payne will be out of action for at least four weeks after damaging his medial knee ligament on Saturday.

The holding midfielder went down clutching his knee after colliding with Shrewsbury striker Marvin Morgan at Priestfield, leaving the ground on crutches.

After consulatation with medical staff, it has been confirmed that Gillingham’s worst fears that Payne will be sidelined for some time have come true.

Payne damaged the medial knee ligament on his right leg and will be out for at least a month.

The news comes as a huge blow with the youngster having cemented himself a place in the starting line up and especially considering striker Adam Birchall will be sidelined with a similar injury until the New Year.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it seems that the Gills could be without the services of goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga for some time with the Argentinian having gone down with a suspected case of mumps.

Should it turn out to be the case, Gazzaniga would have to be away from the squad for about a month leaving the side without a back-up to first choice Ross Flitney.

With Daren Hawkes on loan at Ramsgate for a month and no recall available to the Gills with Youth team keeper Ashley Bourne also injured, the Gills boss admitted he may go into Saturday’s game with five outfield players on the bench:

“Funnily enough Matt Fish is a really good keeper so he might be the answer. I’ve seen him play there a few times in training, when we were at Dover, and he’s not afraid to throw himself around a bit,” Hessenthaler told the Gills’ official website.

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