Gillingham's Obiero Out for Two Months After Debut Injury

Gillingham’s 4-1 statement win at Rochdale came at a heavy price. Just 15 minutes into his debut, Zech Obiero’s afternoon – and his early-season hopes – collapsed with damage to both hamstrings.

The 21-year-old midfielder, on loan from Leyton Orient and handed an immediate chance to impress in League Two, now faces what manager Gareth Ainsworth expects to be “a month or two” on the sidelines.

“It will be a sustained period on the touchline,” Ainsworth told BBC Radio Kent. “Terrible for him to start his Gillingham career that way, but it's football.”

The double hamstring blow turns an encouraging performance into a worrying early-season trend. Obiero is already the third serious injury Gillingham have suffered in the opening month.

• Captain and centre-back Liam Gordon damaged his knee on his debut on the opening day of the campaign.
• Then came the hammer shot: 33-year-old winger Kadeem Harris ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in the 0-0 draw at Fleetwood.
• Now Obiero joins the casualty list.

Ainsworth, though, refused to let the setback cloud his view of the youngster’s potential.

“I'd sign him again tomorrow,” he said. “I know exactly what he bring us, but he's a strong boy and he'll come back stronger than ever. We'll have to do without him, and the boys have adapted really well with that.”

The pattern is impossible to ignore. Three key players, three significant injuries, all before the season has properly settled. Ainsworth didn’t hide his frustration.

“It's unbelievable, and we've had some freakishly ridiculous injuries,” he added. “It's unfortunate, but it does come in threes. Hopefully that's the end of it.”

Questions inevitably follow runs like this, especially about training methods. Ainsworth met that head-on, pointing out Obiero had barely been on the grass.

“People can talk about the way we train. He only trained one day, Zech! So if that's done him in, I'm going to leave this industry.”

For now, Gillingham must absorb another loss, reshuffle again, and hope the curse really has stopped at three.