Gillingham injury updates ahead of Doncaster Rovers trip as manager Mark Bonner provides news on Tim Dieng, Conor Masterson and Aaron Rowe status

Gillingham manager Mark Bonner is continuing to juggle a number of injury issues ahead of the weekend - and he’s been in the treatment room too!

Bonner has revealed the extent of the knee injury that Frenchman Tim Dieng picked up, and how they’re thankful it’s not as bad as it first appeared.

Dieng came off injured at Fleetwood, and could be missing for another month, but Bonner said: “We had a scan (after Fleetwood) and had bad news on that but then we've had some follow-up appointments and the news has got better.

“We're probably looking at about a month from now, but we thought it was much worse than that.

“He's got a problem in his knee, which he did just before he came off. He sort of twisted it in a tackle. That was a bit of a random injury, a random moment, but unfortunate.

“The initial scan suggested it was a lot worse than we think it is. It's been a couple of weeks. It'll probably be another four if everything goes to plan.”

Bonner was sharing the treatment room with Conor Masterson this week - the defender still trying to get on top of an Achilles injury that has troubled him since the first week of the season.

“He’s really close,” said the manager. “He's got a bit of a problem in this Achilles, a bit of tendinopathy. He’s found just planting his foot, running, jumping, really hard.

“Pitches were rock hard pre-season for a period, they really struggled with that.

“Some injuries you have a time frame, but on this it’s just like when the pain goes, it goes. He's hopping now, he's done a little bit on a treadmill.

“He's got needles sticking out of his leg and all sorts trying to help him.

“We were on opposite beds. I got bit of sore foot myself, so I had some needles in my foot, and he had some needles in his