Gillingham midfielder Ben Reeves is feeling the benefit of a full pre-season - his first in years.

Reeves helped the Gills improve after coming off the bench against Wimbledon last week and was the driving force as they took the game to Rochdale on Saturday.

It’s been some time since Reeves was able to enjoy a full season and getting in the foundations during the summer months is key.

He said: “I feel really good, I have completed the whole of pre-season, it’s probably my first one in about seven years. I feel 25 again and it’s nice to do it.

“For different reasons I have missed pre-season, either through signing late at clubs, then getting chucked in at the deep end, but this time to have a pre-season under my belt can only do me good in the long run.

“I feel the best I have in years. Hopefully that is good for the team, I can help the team. I missed the Crystal Palace (pre-season) game, more through precaution, but I trained the next day so it was fine. I wanted to complete the whole of pre-season, to do that was good.

“If you haven’t got that base fitness your legs aren’t used to it, it can catch up to you after two or three games and then all of a sudden you break down. I am looking forward to it this time and I have that base fitness, it’s something to build on.

“I want to have the best season I have had in years and to get as much football as I can would be good for me.”

The 30-year-old has endured a frustrating few years.

Most of his 20 league appearances for the Gills came off the bench last season.

He played 28 league games for Plymouth in 2020/21 but 23 of those were as a substitute. It was the same story at MK Dons the season before, 13 substitute appearance and just four league starts.

His two years at Charlton were better, making 43 starts from 58 league outings and chipping in with seven goals, that spell coming after a more productive first stint with the MK Dons between 2013-2017.

His first two appearances of this season suggest he could have a big part to play for the Gills in League 2.

Following the 1-0 win over Rochdale on Saturday, he said: “We are starting to look like a team again, that was the main thing, first of all it was great to have Alex MacDonald back (after injury) with his influence in the dressing room, it is going to make us better and stronger.

“The crowd were brilliant, we will need them throughout the season, but first and foremost the result was the most important thing.

“We showed both sides of our game, first 60 we were the better team on the ball and last 30 we had to show what we had off the ball and we did that really well.”