Peter Taylor has dipped into the loan market to secure the capture of an attacking midfielder

Gillingham manager Peter Taylor today secured his third loan transfer of the January window with the signing of attacking midfielder Connor Smith until the end of the season from Championship side Watford.Connor, who is a Republic of Ireland Under-21 international, was first spotted on the Sky TV programme Football’s Next Star, in which he finished runner-up, signing for Watford’s Academy shortly after.Having gained first team experience with a loan spell at non-league Wealdstone, he was handed his first team debut by Gianfranco Zola in a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in August 2012, just a few weeks after scoring against the Gills in the Hornets’ 3-0 pre-season win at Priestfield.His eight senior appearances for Watford include five league and cup outings in 2013/14 and he signs in time to feature in the squad for this weekend’s Sky Bet League 1 match at Colchester United.