Gills boss praises Emmanuel-Thomas

Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh has praised Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who has made an immediate impact at the League One club.

The QPR forward, who is surplus to requirements at Loftus Road, completed a season-long loan move last week after West London Sport had revealed he was set to join the Gills.

He scored on his debut in a 3-1 win against Southend at the weekend and came off the bench to score twice on Tuesday in another 3-1 victory against the same opposition, this time in the EFL Cup.

“We knew we had to be cautious with him, as he’s not had as many minutes as he’d have liked at QPR pre-season,” Edinburgh told Gillingham’s website.

“It was part of our plan to be in the game, bring him on, for the game to open up and for him to affect it. That’s certainly what happened.

“For somebody of his quality, and what he’s achieved at this level, we knew he’d be an influential player.

“It’s there for everybody to see why we wanted to bring him into the football club.”