A squad of 20 to 21 players is the ideal scenario for Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler.

The new Gills boss has made no secret of his desire to bring in fresh blood during the summer.

But he wants a smaller squad than previous manager Mark Stimson – and also dismissed claims that the budget will restrict who he can bring in.

"We’re looking for a squad of 20 or 21 to work with," revealed Hessenthaler. "The budget is still a good budget for this division.

"We’ll pick and choose carefully as you can make mistakes on players – we’ve all done it as managers. I’ve done it already, at Dover, I made mistakes.

"You’re not always going to get it right but if you do your homework properly and get the right characters in then you won’t get too many wrong."

As for bringing in non-league players, Hessenthaler vowed not to go down the Stimson route of wholesale changes, but has refused to rule out making signings from the semi-professional game if they are good enough.

"I came from non-league and I had a great career in the League," added Hessenthaler. "There are good players out there but you need to pick and choose carefully.

"If there was one that I thought would be good for this football club then I’d get them in during pre-season to have a look at them at this level.

"But you have to be careful you don’t take too many. All I would say is that there are some good non-league players out there."

Is Andy Hessenthaler right to work with a smaller squad? Should he sign non-league players? Have your say in our comments section below.