Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth’s reaction after a 2-1 win over Ebbsfleet United and an injury scare for new signing Sam Tabares

Manager Gareth Ainsworth is hoping an injury to his latest signing on Friday night is nothing to be concerned about.

The Gills announced the signing of former Fulham and Southampton under-21 player Sam Tabares on Wednesday. On Friday night at Ebbsfleet, he made his first appearance for the club. Sadly, it didn't last long.

Report: Ebbsfleet 1 Gillingham 2

After less than 20 minutes, he signalled to the bench that he could have a problem, and he walked off after some attention. He’ll now be assessed but Ainsworth is optimistic.

Following the 2-1 win over Fleet, the Gills boss said: “We got everything we needed to get out of [the game] and it was just unfortunate that Sam Tabares had to go off in that first half.

“We'll check him out and see how he is, but everyone else got the minutes as planned.

“I mixed the squads around. There was a team against Ipswich at home [in the] morning, a mixture of some young ones and some old ones, and this one as well.

“I think we finished the game with about four or five of our academy graduates on the pitch, which is fantastic for the club. I got exactly what I wanted out of the game. They saw the game out at the end, the press that we put on, the chances we created, I was really pleased.”

The Gills were still without a handful of players. Garath McCleary hasn’t featured during pre-season and Bradley Dack went off injured early on in their first game at Dover. Armani Little also picked up a knock in that opening game.

Back-up keeper Lennon MacLorg missed Friday’s game with a muscle injury.

Cameron Antwi and first-choice goalkeeper Ollie Wright are also injured and haven't had any pre-season minutes.

Commenting more on the Tabares injury, Ainsworth said: “It's precautionary; nothing