by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham lost Wednesday’s reserve match against Aldershot at Priestfield 4-2 but the fixture was a welcome boost for several of the first team squad.

Manager Andy Hessenthaler named a strong side for the Combination League fixture which saw the likes of Andy Barcham and Curtis Weston take a step closer to recovering from injury.

Barcham (pictured) lasted just over an hour and Weston played the full 90 minutes.

There was also a 45 minute stint for Garry Richards as the defender gets close to making his first appearance of the season.

Stefan Payne was also coming back from a spell on the sidelines and he scored the opening goal.

Danny Jackman doubled Gillingham’s advantage on 24 minutes with a well-executed free-kick but Aldershot hit back with four first half goals.

Early in the second half Dennis Oli limped off for the Gills, with a reocurrence of a hamstring problem, and the Aldershot goals came at regular intervals.

Gills: Cronin, Evans, Brown, Jackman, King, Richards (Davies 46mins), Inkango, Weston, Oli (White 50mins), S Payne, Barcham (Benniman 68mins). Subs not used: Hawkes, Brunt.

Are you hoping to see some of the Gills' injured stars back soon? Have your say below.