Garry Richards was back in the Gills side at Yeovil last weekend Picture: Barry Goodwin

by Luke Cawdell

Garry Richards is looking to put a frustrating six months behind him and help guide Gillingham to safety.

Richards returned to the heart of the Gills’ defence after a four-month absence last weekend and was instrumental in helping keep Yeovil at bay.

"It’s fantastic to be back," said the 23-year-old. "Obviously I’m not right up to match fitness yet as it’s been a long time since I last played.

"I want to put that all behind me now and crack on. For me, it’s like a new season."

Richards was a play-off winner last season. He started the current campaign but was dropped following Gillingham’s 2-0 defeat at Brighton in mid-October. It was the start of a difficult period for the centre-back.

While out on the sidelines, an examination of a foot injury revealed a long-standing fracture. Richards returned for a couple of reserve outings but then suffered a calf injury and picked up a knee injury in the same week.

Surgery corrected damage to his cartilage and medial ligaments but no sooner had he got fit, than he was out again.

A bout of conjunctivitis forced him to stay away from the club until the condition cleared. Before the eye infection he was considering a loan move, with Hereford and Barnet understood to be interested but that fell through.

He added: "It’s been a frustrating season. After recovering from injury, I was looking to come back into the side and wanted to be playing.

"If it meant going out on loan to get fit then I would have done that because at the time the lads were doing well.

"You have to weigh up your options and it’s no good sitting around and watching the season pass you by."

Richards’ contract expires in the summer and that’s something that was also weighing on his mind.

He said: "That’s why the loan deal was an option but I’m here now and I’ve just got to try and earn a new contract.

"Playing football is what I get paid to do and coming off the back of last season, I wanted to push onwards and upwards. I’ve now got to take this opportunity I’ve got.

"When you get back into the side the main aim is to keep a clean sheet and hopefully the team can now build on that. We didn’t get the win that I felt we deserved last Saturday but I was happy with the clean sheet."

Richards is now desperate to help the Gills put their relegation fears behind them but knows talk is cheap.

He said: "We’ve got a side together who work their socks off and on paper, ability-wise, we are good enough.

"We’re now in a situation where we’re looking at other sides around us.

"It’s all well and good saying we should be higher than where we are but it’s now time to start turning those performances into results.

"We’ve got Bristol Rovers this weekend and there’s no reason why we can’t take three points.

"They’ve been pretty much the same over the last couple of seasons. They like their set-pieces and they’ll have a battle."