Gillingham League 1 build up

DANNY JACKMAN had no hesitation in joining Gillingham after being impressed with the skills of manager Neale Cooper.

Jackman signed a two-year deal after impressing during pre-season and was quick to dismiss offers from other clubs.

The 22-year-old said: "With the way things were going at Stockport after they went down they’ve got budgets to stick to and they needed to get rid of a few.

"I came on trial and it went quite well. There were one or two others that were interested but I came down here.

"I knew the manager and he’s a good pedigree of manager after what he did at Hartlepool and there was only one decision for me."

The former Aston Villa youth player is hoping for better fortunes after Stockport finished bottom of League 1 last season.

And after arriving on a free transfer, he is now looking forward to playing a major part in Gillingham’s forthcoming campaign.

He said: "I’m looking forward to the season and just want to get it started really. We’ve had a couple of good pre-season games and hopefully we can get off to a good start."

Jackman had a year left on his County contract and had previously attracted interest from Yeovil and Bournemouth, before seeing out the season at Edgeley Road – making 49 appearances.

His explosive pace is sure to test defences this season, although an injury to another new signing Tom Williams has seen him return to left-back recently where he spent much of his time at Stockport.

"I prefer to play left-wing," Jackman said. "I enjoy the attacking side more so than the defence but if the team needs a left-back then I’ll do that as well."