Assistant manager Ian Hendon says Gillingham’s batch of young professionals will come to the fore during pre-season.

The players returned from their summer break on Monday as the Gills prepare for a 14-game pre-season schedule ahead of the League 2 opener against Cheltenham at Priestfield on August 6.

Hendon (pictured) welcomed the hectic schedule and admitted it would give some of the club’s up and coming players the chance to show what they can do.

He said: "We have got a lot of young pros and I am sure we will be playing a lot of the younger ones in the earlier games and then gradually introducing the senior players as we go through.

"It’s a case of players need to get match fit. As a player, and it’s not that long since I stopped, the more games I played in pre-season, the fitter I became."

The schedule when the players arrive at the training ground this morning will be designed to style the way Gillingham approach the new campaign. Hendon admitted; "It’s not like the old days when you’d go for long runs or go to the beach to run.

"You can run them round the training ground as much as you want but we want to lay a few things down this pre-season and it’s better to try that in games.

"It’s better to try things in games in pre-season as it doesn’t matter if you come unstuck. If you make mistakes then you can iron them out."

Meanwhile Hendon revealed the Gills have no set style in mind for the new campaign, although they will be aiming to be more attacking than last season.

He said: "I’d say it will be horses for courses. There are certain games when you can’t play expansive football with two wingers. It depends on the players we sign.

"Every manager wants to play exciting football and that’s what the supporters want to see.

"Some teams do it all the time, like Brighton, and they won their league but it doesn’t always work for everyone."

Gillingham's first pre-season fixture is against newly formed Ashford United on Wednesday, July 6.

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