Gillingham manager Neil Harris has revealed that on-loan Charlton Athletic Ashley Maynard-Brewer is set to be out until December with a shoulder injury.

Maynard-Brewer has only ever made five first-team appearances for Charlton, and was therefore loaned out to Gillingham earlier in the summer transfer window.

However, in just his second friendly appearance for the Gills, Maynard-Brewer suffered a dislocation of his shoulder for the second time, having picked up the same injury while on loan at Ross County last season.

As a result, the 23-year-old now faces an operation that is set to keep him on the sidelines for the next few months.

The Charlton stopper is one of two goalkeepers to have joined Gillingham this summer, with Jake Turner joining permanently from Newcastle, and it seems this setback means another 'keeper will have to be brought to Priestfield before the window closes.

Providing an update on the situation surrounding the injury Maynard-Brewer has picked up, Harris was quoted by The Kent Messenger as saying: “He is going to have a shoulder operation and he will be out until the Christmas period. We are going to have to replace Ash straight away.

“It is difficult to accept because we saw his attributes in the two weeks that he was with us but we are delighted Jake Turner is with us, we look forward to working with him, but we do need to bring in another goalkeeper to compete.

“It has come completely out the blue, something that we couldn't budget for and we couldn’t expect, but we have to deal with it.”

The Verdict

You do have to feel a great deal of sympathy for Maynard-Brewer here.

This will have been a big opportunity for the 23-year-old to finally show what he is capable of doing in English football.

However, that is something he has now missed out on the chance of doing in the next few months, and it could be hard for him to force his way back into the side, given the season will be in full flow, once he is fit again.

Indeed, given this is a recurring injury, there may be some concern for the goalkeeper that this will be an something that sticks with him throughout his career, which would of course be a big blow.