Charlie Stimson has followed in his father’s footsteps and joined Gillingham.

The teenager has signed for Mark Patterson’s youth team and will be among the new crop of youngsters aiming to make their mark.

Stimson senior has not been afraid to turn to youth and on Saturday introduced another when he handed 16-year-old Joshua Sargeant a cameo as a second half substitute against Birmingham.

The Gills boss said: “Mark (Patterson) took a look at him (Charlie) and thought he was up to standard. He’s come in like the other first years and had a couple of hard weeks.

“They’ve trained every day and now get up a lot earlier than they did when they were at school.

“It was good to see Josh out there on Saturday. I’ve watched him in the youth team quite a few times and at Bromley (on Friday night) he had an outstanding game.

“He’s got a fantastic left foot and also he’s a tenacious little player. On Saturday he lost the ball but didn’t dwell on it. He ran back and put a tackle in and he’s one of quite a few in the group that have got a future.

“I’ve always said it doesn’t matter about age. If these youngsters perform like I know they can they might get an opportunity.”

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