Gillingham head to League One leaders Rotherham United on Tuesday night hoping a few extra bodies in the squad will help them climb out of the relegation zone.

Manager Steve Evans confirmed on Monday that defenders Rhys Bennett and David Tutonda have been training with the squad in the past few days as his side benefited from not having had a game at the weekend.

By the time The Gills take on The Millers, the Kent side won’t have played a competitive game for nine days and Evans is hoping the rest will have done his injury ravaged squad some good.

Keeping his cards quite close to his chest as to who will be available for the trip, Evans admitted he could have a few extra bodies back, but would be without one more due to Covid:

“Rhys Bennett and Dave Tutonda both trained on Sunday; they will go back out today. We have one player who is out due to COVID, but we will keep his name under wraps.”

“We had one or two who were back in training yesterday; they seem to have come through that. The treatment room is still very busy, we have lost Dan Adshead of course which is a big blow as he was just starting to mature with his performances.”

“We have just come off the back of a nine day break, which has been good for us as we have been hammered by injuries. It gives an opportunity for others, and I thought against Portsmouth it was an excellent performance. We switch off, and we get punished.”

Knowing his side face their sternest test of the season so far, Evans is hoping his patched up side can return to Kent with something on Tuesday night:

“Rotherham have depth in every position. Warney [Paul Warne] and his staff are doing a great job. It’s our toughest game of the season. We need to go there and be prepared for a tough night.”

“We had a week or two where the performances were not so good, and that’s when we first introduced the academy players and they are slowly improving. The table today won’t be reflective in eight weeks’ time when we’ve got our top players back.”

With a trip to Fleetwood Town to follow on Saturday afternoon, these next two away fixtures could define Gillingham’s season.

Going into the Rotherham game, The Gills sit 21st in League One with just 17 points from their opening twenty games of the season.

Having taken just three points from a possible eighteen in their last six league games, Gillingham are very much a side out of form, whereas Rotherham go into the game having won three and drawn two of their last five outings.

With fans still directing their ire at chairman Paul Scally and boycotting home games, Evans will be hoping his side can give those that travel something to cheer about for once.

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.