Gillingham vs Portsmouth - Gillingham lose suspended pair Tom Eaves and Mark Byrne

Posted Friday, October 06, 2017 by PA

Gillingham caretaker boss Peter Taylor must do without suspended forward Tom Eaves and midfielder Mark Byrne for Sunday's televised Sky Bet League One clash against Portsmouth.

Taylor made six changes for the midweek Checkatrade Trophy win at Colchester, so the likes of Lee Martin, Gabriel Zakuani and Conor Wilkinson should all come back in.

Defender Luke O'Neill has been sidelined by a hamstring problem and Alex Lacey an ankle injury, while midfielder Billy Bingham continues to recover from a concussion in training earlier this month.

Midfielder Scott Wagstaff and defender Bradley Garmston and are stepping up recovery for their respective calf injuries. Aaron Morris (knee) remains a long-term absentee.

Pompey defender Christian Burgess will be assessed on a head injury along with Nathan Thompson (calf), with manager Kenny Jackett hoping his defensive crisis will ease.

Damien McCrory has undergone surgery on the knee injury which has seen the defender miss Pompey's last four matches, so midfielders Dion Donohue and Gareth Evans are likely to fill the full-back roles, with striker Oliver Hawkins partnering Matt Clarke at centre-back should Burgess and Thompson not make it.

Portsmouth will be without forward Conor Chaplin, who has suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem.

Top-scorer Brett Pitman is recovering from keyhole knee surgery, while also having an operation to fix his broken nose, so last season's top scorer Kal Naismith could return to the starting XI.