Gillingham boss Ady Pennock is happy to keep the club’s youngsters at the forefront of his plans.

Midfielder Ben Chapman made his Gills debut at Reading in their midweek Carabao Cup defeat and striker Greg Cundle started his first match for the club.

Pennock also has the likes of Noel Mbo, Finn O’Mara and Bradley Stevenson at his disposal and is keen to keep them close to the action during the opening weeks of the season.

He said: “We have a small squad and that’s why it is important that we bed these youngsters in. I haven’t just put them in for the sake of it. I have put them in because I believe in them.

“We haven’t got a massive squad but those young lads have shown me they can deal with it.”

Pennock has already said he wants the first-year pros to gain experience on loan but with a busy schedule and an increasing injury list, he may need to use them more than he first expected.

“There are a lot of games in the first month,” Pennock said. “They did well pre-season and we’re not a club that can spend £100-200,000 or half a million on players.

“It would be lovely to see these young lads come through and play regularly. Everybody in the community would like to see that as well.

“They are good enough. There were some good performances (on Tuesday) from the three young boys (Darren Oldaker, Chapman and Cundle).

“We had Finn on the bench again (at Reading). He is a first-year pro and has done ever so well. We have got some good options.

“I am not saying that everyone is ready now, they still need that experience of playing men’s football. Some of them need to go because they need that physicality.”

Read the full story in Thursday's Medway Messenger as part of five pages of Gills coverage