KentOnline

bannermobile

News

Sport

Business

What's On

Advertise

Contact

Other KM sites

CORONAVIRUS WATCH KMTV LIVE SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTERS LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS LISTEN TO KMFM
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
News

Striker Adam Birchall thrilled to have made his League debut for Gillingham after being sidelined for a year

By: KentOnline reporter multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 08:59, 03 September 2012

Adam Birchall

Adam Birchall enjoying the action at Priestfield Picture: Barry Goodwin

By Andrew Gidley

Striker Adam Birchall was delighted and relieved to have made his League debut for Gillingham on Saturday.

After being sidelined for a year following his move from Dover, Birchall was given a place place on the bench against Chesterfield and came on for Danny Kedwell in the 78th minute at Priestfield.

mpu1

Birchall had feared the worse, missing training last week after suffering a little soreness in his knee, but got the all-clear after a visit to his London specialist on Friday and rang Martin Allen immediately afterwards to say he would be ready to start training this week.

The Gills boss, though, had a surprise in store for the striker.

Allen said: "I called him into my office just before 1.30pm, shook his hand and told him he was sub. His teeth were shining, he was so happy."

Birchall said: "I can’t really put into words how I feel to finally make my (league) debut. It has been a really hard struggle to get to this point, and I can’t thank everyone enough who has supported me, including the gaffer."

He added: "I loved being out there, and it would have been fairytale stuff if I had scored at the end but the angle was not there."

"Having been out as long as I have you have to be so patient. The gaffer has been great, helping me with every step of my pre-season.

mpu2

"Match sharpness is the thing now and you only get that from playing. It’s a case of hanging in there, showing what I can do in training and hoping to catch the management’s eye."

What can a fit Adam Birchall bring to the squad? Have your say below.

More by this author

sticky

© KM Group - 2024