Gillingham will be avoiding the five-star luxuries when they head to Northern Ireland later this month.

Head coach Ady Pennock was left fighting a losing battle with the players’ fitness at the end of last season and he’s turned to friend Seamus Heath to help get the squad in top shape this time around.

Irish FA coach Heath has played host to professional clubs on a number of occasions, including Pennock’s former team, Forest Green Rovers.

It will be a tough welcome back for the players following their summer break but one that should give them the base level fitness to cope with the rigours ahead.

UEFA Pro Licence coach Heath, who first met Pennock on a training course, said: “We do have a hotel, a five-star hotel. We have used it for teams before but Ady doesn’t want that, which is right. It’s not a holiday.

“The first week (of training) is the most important. If you don’t put in that base of fitness, when they then move onto the second week that is when you can get pulled muscles and fatigue.

“Ady and Neil Withington (Gills’ fitness coach) are on the ball for fitness and health.

“The team next year should be fit and hungry. A player might have more skill but a fitter player will just run past them. They won’t be able to keep up and that’s the way the game is going now. There is no hiding place.”

Gillingham will be staying in a youth hostel up above the town of Newcastle in County Down. Championship side Wolves are among the teams to have visited and it will be a chance for the squad to bond, with Pennock hoping to have several new faces on board.

The players will be having three training sessions a day, starting at 7am.

Gills head to Northern Ireland on June 25 and have their first pre-season game on Friday, July 7, against Faversham Town.

Read the full story in Monday's Medway Messenger.