Gillingham will be working to a new timetable this season.

Manager Justin Edinburgh hopes the change helps keep his squad clear of some unwanted injuries.

His team will be switching their day off from Wednesday, which is the norm for most professional clubs, to Thursdays.

Edinburgh said: “It is something that has served me well in the past, in terms of picking up soft tissue injuries.

“Apart from Doug’s calf, we have done really well in pre-season and if you can try and maintain not losing players through muscle injuries and keep our better players fit that is what it is about.

“Collisions and tackles are something you can do nothing about, but if we can eradicate muscle injuries then that helps in keeping a settled squad and side, standing you in better stead going forward.

“At our level we play most midweeks and if you play Tuesday and train Thursday you are still within the 48 hours of recovery. Science tells you that you shouldn’t be training those players because they are still susceptible to injuries.

“So not only do you lose Wednesday, you lose Thursday, you lose two days.

“Those players who haven’t played Tuesday can now train hard on the Wednesday and ones who have can cool down. The whole group can have Thursday off, they say together, there are no divides in the group and everyone comes in Friday ready to train.”