Gillingham’s Jayden Clarke feels the competition for places will help improve his own performances.

The 23-year-old winger made his first league start of the season in the 1-0 victory at Morecambe last Saturday, crossing for George Lapslie to tap home the winner.

But with good options on the bench, players to come back from injury and the returning Bradley Dack working to get up to match fitness, Clarke knows he needs to impress when he gets his chance.

“Everyone knows that now,” said Clarke. “Your shirt is always up for grabs when you’re in the team. When you’re not in the team you’ve always got to be ready.

“It changes very quickly, I didn’t start last week but I did this week. It can always change so you’ve just got to always be at the top of your game.

“It was my first start in a while but I think I did well and gave a good account of myself.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played 90 minutes but we got the three points which is the main thing.

“I did a lot of work in the summer and I feel a lot better for it. Hopefully I can build on it, I got my first assist and hopefully I can get more goals and assists.

“I’ve set myself a little goal but I’ll keep that one to myself!”

Naturally, under a new manager there’s still plenty of improvement to come.

But Clarke can see promising signs already and is excited for the potential of the squad.

“It’s still early days but the boys are really enjoying it,” he said. “We just need to take it game by game and see where that takes us.

“It’s still early with the new gaffer so as much time as possible on the training pitch is good for us.

“At the moment it’s been in glimpses but it’s still early so I’m pretty sure the more we work together, the more we are going to see it on a consistent basis. It’s been good under him so far.

“Everyone in their position knows what to do but I think everyone knows what someone else is going to do.

“I think in the past sometimes people didn’t know what someone was going to do which then caused you not to do what you needed to do.

“But it’s been really clear, everyone knows their own job very well and has a good understanding of someone else’s job.”

Clarke pinpointed Jonny Williams’ guidance during his time at Priestfield and is excited to learn under Bradley Dack.

He’s also looking at Jack Nolan’s performances at Accrington last season to provide inspiration to help his own game.

“Jack Nolan did really well last year and he’s a similar age to me,” explained Clarke.

“I get along well with him so at the same time I look at what he’s doing and try to take some things from him.

“The main thing for me is to get as many minutes as possible and build confidence.

“We all heard the reaction from social media (to Dack’s signing) and everyone was really happy with it. We can’t wait for him to get involved and help us win some more football matches.

“Hopefully Bradley can pass things onto me and give me some advice. Jonny Williams has been really good at that, he helps me a lot as an older player who has played higher so I’m looking forward to working with Bradley.”