Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence on the chances of bringing in a free agent as young striker Joe Gbode pushes for involvement

Gillingham’s head coach Stephen Clemence is willing to give youth a chance rather than dip into the free-agent market.

There’s concern among fans that injuries to recent signings Jorge Hurtado and Josh Andrews leaves the Gills sailing close to trouble should anything happen to their other forwards.

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Andrews was due to see a specialist on Thursday over a muscle strain and there is confidence in the camp that the player will be featuring soon. Young strike Joe Gbode, meanwhile, is back from loan at Aveley and training more frequently with the first team.

There are numerous strikers currently without clubs including former Cardiff City man Connor Wickham, experienced lower-league front-man Kieran Agard and a host of youngsters like Tarique Fosu, who is a free agent after leaving Brentford.

Clemence says it’s not an avenue they’re pursuing.

He said: “Any free agents are looked at but there is nothing happening at the moment. A couple of people in the street have mentioned one or two players to me this week.

“There are different reasons for every case why a player hasn’t got a club, you have to treat every case differently, but it is not something happening at the moment.”

Some of Gills’ rivals in League 2 have opted to bring in additional players. With the transfer window shut, only players who were out of contract on February 1 onwards can be signed.

Doncaster have signed former Coventry City striker Maxime Biamou on a short-term deal while Morecambe have added Jordy Hiwula to their squad on a contract for the remainder of the season.

With a B Team in place, however, the Gills do have other options and Gbode was recalled recently from Aveley after an illness to regular first-team