Emmerdale spoilers: Gus Malcolm injured in clash with Marlon Dingle and everything is made much worse

Things are already looking bad for Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) in her post-kidnap phase in Emmerdale; she’s staring down the barrel of a possible two-year custodial sentence and she’s caused huge damage within her own family.

Now is the time to tread carefully if she doesn’t want to lose Ivy from her life for good, so the last thing she needs is to upset Gus (Alan McKenna) further. Three guesses for what she goes and does.

Having gone on the run with Ivy after learning Gus was taking her to France, Rhona was caught and arrested when Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) dobbed her in. In the process of all this drama, Rhona forgot about her own two children April and Leo, who have suffered hugely for her actions.

Rhona is technically a criminal now, but that word doesn’t sit well with her – she sees herself as a passionate mother. ‘Bottom line is she doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong,’ actress Zoe Henry told Metro.co.uk. ‘She just knows she can’t stand up there and brand herself a criminal when she doesn’t feel like one’.

Emotions continue to run high

Rhona tells Mary (Louise Jameson) and Marlon (Mark Charnock) that because of this, there is no way she is pleading guilty.

While April has been giving Rhona the cold shoulder, she’s also terrified of what could happen to her. Amelia (Daisy Campbell) catches her getting on the wrong bus and April confesses she isn’t going to school – she’s off to deal with Gus.

Gus is surprised when the teen shows up on his doorstep to beg him not to follow through with pursuing this case against Rhona.

Actor Alan McKenna, who plays Gus, shared that April manages to tug at Gus’ heartstrings by reminding him that Ivy could find all this out in the future.

He said: ‘[April] says things that really touch him about her own story and how she grew up, brings that all round to how Ivy might react in the future in her situation.’ Clever April, although not quite clever enough. In the midst of her emotions, she lets a key fact slip – that Rhona plans on pleading not guilty. Gus is not amused, and April has unwittingly caused her step-mum another headache.

Gus drops her back in the village, but immediately shows his fury to Rhona about her decision. A desperate Rhona makes a move to see Ivy which Gus instinctively and forcefully blocks, leading Marlon to intervene. Things get feisty between the two men and the result will have a devastating outcome for Rhona – Gus is knocked to the floor, injured.

It sounds like a positively frightful bout of fisticuffs from Mark Charnock’s description: ‘There’s this middle-aged scuffle and one of the middle-aged combatants falls.’ Good lord, it’s a blood bath.

This plays right into Gus’ hands. Mark added: ‘What it gives Gus is leverage to build, it gives him something else that he can hang his case onto.’

Marlon’s apology doesn’t hold water for the new dad, who makes it clear he is not accepting it.

But the whole ordeal has given Gus food for thought. He offers Rhona a deal – she can get to see Ivy if she pleads guilty.

Alan explains Gus’ motivation in changing his mind: ‘He ends up offering everything that they were asking for before, which is him to be around and to share custody. So he says, “I will take the house of market, I’ll cancel the sale. I’ll stay here and we can find a way”.

‘He doesn’t have the exact solution yet, but we’ll find a way where we can co-parent. And he believes that offer is enough to hopefully get Rhona on board and change her mind with a not guilty plea. Yeah, I think he feels I’m putting everything on the line here for you.’ But is there more to his plan than meets the eye?