Matty Willock returns for Gillingham

Posted Thursday, October 08, 2020 by PA

Gillingham will have Matty Willock available for Saturday’s clash with Oxford in Sky Bet League One.

The one-time Manchester United midfielder returned from a hamstring injury to play 45 minutes against Ipswich in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday and provide manager Steve Evans with a much-needed boost.

Evans remains without Stuart O’Keefe (ankle) for the foreseeable future, while Southampton loanee Tommy O’Connor will miss this weekend’s match because he is away on international duty with the Republic of Ireland Under-21s.

Kyle Dempsey and Scott Robertson have returned to training this week, but the visit of the Us may come too soon for them.

Oxford have three key players back for the trip to Kent, with Josh Ruffels, Alex Gorrin and Sam Winnall in contention to feature against Gillingham.

Centre-back Rob Atkinson is likely to be absent with a minor groin strain and John Mousinho is still sidelined with a knee injury.

But the return of Ruffels (shoulder), Gorrin and Winnall (both ankle) is timely with a number of matches crammed into the month of October.

Last weekend’s postponed home fixture with Crewe will now take place on Tuesday, but Karl Robinson’s men will first focus on the challenge of sixth-placed Gillingham.