It’s time for new heroes said Gillingham boss Ady Pennock after a battling draw at Doncaster.

His Gills side picked up a point on the opening day of the season following a goalless tussle in south Yorkshire.

The new League 1 season began without former fans’ favourites Cody McDonald and Bradley Dack – both now with other teams – while keeper Stuart Nelson was left at home and player-of-the-year Josh Wright started the match on Saturday from the bench.

Keeper Tomas Holy, whose ability was questioned by some fans before the match, kept the Gills in it with a number of saves, taking the plaudits and frustrating the home fans.

Pennock said: “Supporters are supporters and they aren’t going to love everyone.

“I’m not going to say they won’t make mistakes, every individual will make mistakes because we’re all human beings at the end of the day, but why not give him a pat on the back? I thought he was outstanding. Hopefully that will give him a lot of confidence.

“He has done very well and hopefully he will get a lot of praise from people who have been knocking him.

“We carried on from pre-season and we have the characters to (battle and fight) now. The new players have brought that in. They were outstanding.

“People will be talking about Stu Nelson not travelling and blah, blah, blah and he has been fantastic for us, but why can’t we have new heroes?

“People talk about Cody McDonald and he has been fantastic for us as well, but he has gone to another club.

“Why can’t we have new heroes up top, with the new boys and the likes of Josh Parker and Greg Cundle?

“That’s what we want but I have been very proud of them.”