GILLINGHAM will sign 10 players before the start of the new season, according to chairman Paul Scally.

But the Gills chairman has admitted he does not know how many of that 10 will be out-of-contract players resigning and how many will be new faces.

And, although he said it would be down to manager Neale Cooper and his assistant Ronnie Jepson who they signed, he indicated that the club would only be snapping up players committed to the cause.

He said: "There are 600 players in the game out of contract at the moment and we need another 10 players at this football club.

"Whether that comes from returning players or new players is not my decision – that’s one for Neale and Ronnie.

"But I can assure the fans we will only be signing players who want to play for Gillingham.

"We won’t be resigning people just because they can’t find another deal elsewhere."

With Nyron Nosworthy joining Sunderland, Matt Bodkin, Jones Awuah and Dean Beckwith being released, Mamady Sidibe rejecting a new deal and John Hills indicating he will join another club, Gills still have six players in limbo.

The futures of Nicky Southall, Barry Ashby, Ian Cox, Mark Saunders, Bertrand Bossu and skipper Paul Smith will all be decided next week, with Cooper and Jepson due back from holiday on Monday.

Jepson said that he and manager Cooper were waiting for the future of the out-of-contract players to be sorted before they made a move into the transfer marker.

He said: "The players we have in the squad already are more than good enough for League 1.

"It’s just a case of the gaffer looking at whether there’s anybody else available in that position and if they are an improvement on what we’ve already got.

"But after that it all comes down to contracts and whether people accept what they are offered."