Gillingham midfielder Ethan Coleman injured before sending off against Tranmere Rovers and Bradley Dack update ahead of League 2 match with Barrow

Ethan Coleman has suffered a new blow in what’s been a frustrating start to the new season for the Gillingham midfielder.

Coleman picked up an ankle injury at the back end of last season, which proved problematic and kept him out during pre-season, only recently returning to start the league game at Doncaster.

He received a red card the following week, collecting a second booking for a foul, which meant he was suspended for one game, missing last Saturday’s trip to Notts County.

Manager Mark Bonner had planned to play him on Tuesday night in their EFL Trophy match against Crystal Palace under-21s but revealed that the 24-year-old was unavailable, and also likely to miss the top-of-the-table game against Barrow this Saturday, through injury.

“Ethan's been struggling with his knee since the sending off,” said the Gills boss.

“The tackle on him just before the sending off was a bad one, hence his reaction that got him sent off.

“He's been struggling with his knee and hasn't trained since.

“He's been in the gym. He's not on the grass yet with us but he will soon, hopefully. Maybe later this week, but Saturday will probably come too soon for him.

“It’s frustrating because obviously after the sending off we highlighted (Tuesday’s fixture) as a game where he would play.

“We'll just see how that settles.”

“The game was littered with mistakes. So many bad decisions. So many errors with the ball. It was just messy, really scruffy…” #Gills boss Mark Bonner reacts to a poor performance and explains why his side weren't up to scratch against Palace u21s