Andy Hessenthaler hopes his Gills team can do their talking on the pitch

by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham kick off their League 2 campaign this weekend and boss Andy Hessenthaler is thrilled to be seeing the back of pre-season.

The Gills boss would love to open with three points and the visit of Cheltenham on Saturday will mark the start of the club’s promotion push.

Hessenthaler said: "I can’t stand pre-season – I hate it. You have to do it but it does grind you down a bit because it’s false.

"You have to use it for fitness levels more than anything but you can’t read anything into pre-season.

"The real stuff is coming now and we have to hit the ground running on Saturday with a high tempo atmosphere and a high tempo performance.

"It’s about getting something at the end of a game and we are playing for three points on Saturday. It would be lovely to get off to a winning start."

The Gills took a month to register their first victory last season, something Hessenthaler doesn’t need reminding of.

He said: "We all know how poorly we started last year and we need to turn that around and make sure we hit the ground running.

"If we can do that and be more consistent in 46 games, we are going to be where we want to be."

Last season, the club made bold statements about promotion and although Hessenthaler is this season playing down the club’s aims, he knows it is exactly what is expected.

He said: "We aren’t going to harp on about it because we did that last year. We got ourselves shot down in flames. We all know what we have to do.

"The chairman knows what he wants and I know what I want.

"We have to go and deliver on Saturday now in front of our crowd."

Picture: Barry Goodwin

See Friday's Medway Messenger newspaper for a comprehensive pre-season preview, including interviews with Ross Flitney and Matt Fish and the 2011/12 team picture.

How do you think the Gills will do in their first game of the season? Comment below.