ANDY Hessenthaler is hoping to start the process of strengthening his attacking options for next season as soon as possible. The Gills boss will be without Marlon King. The club’s top scorer was jailed for 18 months at the end of last week after being found driving a stolen BMW.

With fellow striker Iffy Onuora out of contract in the summer, Hessenthaler knows he could start next season with a completely different front line. He said: “I've got to work very hard in the next few weeks to try and solve this problem. Obviously Iffy is a problem because we have to sort his contract out. So starting from today, I will be working on bringing another forward to this football club, if not two.”

Hessenthaler has a list of up to 20 players he would be interested in signing and is preparing to pass that information on to club chairman Paul Scally. Despite confusion surrounding television revenue following the collapse of the ITV Digital deal, the club manager insists he isn’t just looking for strikers.

Hessenthaler has already been linked with Middlesbrough defender Dean Gordon and Scunthorpe United midfielder Lee Hodges. The Gills boss said: “I'm not going to be able to do anything until I know where we stand with the TV money, but that doesn't mean I’m not looking around. I can confirm that we are interested in Middlesbrough defender Dean Gordon. Dean is out of contract and is the type of player we like.

“He is very experienced, gets up and down the pitch and has got an excellent left foot. But Dean is a big earner and would certainly have to take a huge wage cut to come here: I haven't spoken to anyone about Lee (Hodges) at the moment.”