Paul Scally has admitted fans may have to wait a little longer before a new manager is appointed.

Gillingham chairman Mr Scally (pictured) has spoken to 12 potential candidates about the job and is still attempting to meet some of the hopefuls face-to-face. The players return to training on July 5 and Mr Scally hopes to announce a new manager by that date at the latest.

He said: "As long as we have a manager in place by then, that’s fine. I am sure the fans would not want me to rush into making a rash decision.

"I have seen about a dozen of the ones who have applied and there are a combination of a number of things that I have to look at now. I will be doing that in the next week or two.

"Clearly I will have to make a decision by the end of June, or I would want to be making a decision by then.

"I have seen a number of applicants and I have got a few more to see but the problem is that, like a lot of people in football in June, some are on holiday so I am either trying to catch up with them around the world or I am waiting for them to come back from holidays."

Speculation as to who the new manager will be has been rife with several names in the frame, ranging from former Gills boss Peter Taylor – now manager of Bahrain – to ex-England and Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince.