Gillingham youngsters Dean Rance and Connor Essam face a big year ahead at the club after manager Andy Hessenthaler opted to give them another chance to impress.

Both players were signed on from the youth team last summer but neither managed to break into the first team.

Rance (below right) spent the first half of the year on the sidelines after picking up an injury in pre-season last year, while Essam (right) struggled to make it big with a host of senior players ahead of him in the pecking order for the centre-back role.

Pre-season is now set to be an important time for the pair after the club took up the option of keeping them on contract for another season.

“These are boys that we are going to have to nurture through,” said Hessenthaler.

“Are they ready? They are going to have their opportunity. Pre-season, I said to both of them, they need to come back and force my arm in their pre-season performances.

“They are not kids anymore and it’s an opportunity for them.”

Hessenthaler will have a strong youth presence in his squad next season, with seven teenagers currently on professional terms.

Five youth players have been promoted from the club’s scholarship programme and the youngsters will give valuable support.

Hessenthaler said: “They are not massive earners and they are not taking up a massive part of the budget.

“We’ve got about 10 young players and if you get one of those coming through, like we have already seen in Jack Payne and Rooney, who is on the fringes, that can only help us, especially when the finances are tight.”