Gillingham manager Neil Harris says contract talks are progressing well.

The Gills are in talks with a handful of players in the current squad over new deals for next season, including midfielders Alex MacDonald and Shaun Williams.

Defender Max Ehmer has already put pen to paper on new terms while right-back Cheye Alexander has triggered another year contract after reaching a certain amount of appearances this season.

Goalkeeper Glenn Morris is also out of contract.

“It is positive,” said Harris, when asked about contract negotiations. “We want to reward players who have done well for us over the course of 12-24 months, or longer in Max Ehmer’s case but certainly over the last five months. Talks are progressing very positively.

“Hopefully important and positive information will come out in the near future, but that is something for the football board to crack on with, leaving myself to concentrate on the team at the moment and continue to pick up good performances and results. They are progressing really well.”

Williams is someone Harris wants to keep, a player who has come on strong this season, even at the age of 36. MacDonald is another experience head, now 33.

Goalkeeper Morris joined from Crawley and he turned 39 in December.

What the players can offer the team comes before age for Harris, who was asked about Morris and Williams, and said: “You do have to take age into consideration. I want to win games of football. Those two players performed very well all season, and certainly second half of the season were extremely consistent and an important bedrock of what we have achieved and we will see, talks continue with those two individuals.

“It is what we want moving forward. I want a vibrant group, a winning group and a winning mentality, togetherness within the changing room and different types of leaders.

“We have someone like Alex MacDonald who is a great leader, vocal and demanding standards, and then the Shaun Williams type who is a lot quieter and methodical and leads by presence and calmness. That is what you need, you need your younger players like Conor Masterson and Robbie McKenzie and Dom Jefferies to add qualities to the group. We want the mix.

“Age is relevant but the blend is vitally important. A winning mentality player is important in the changing room.”