Franck Moussa hasn’t joined the Gills to make up the numbers.

He wants a piece of the action and that determination to break into the team will create the competition Gillingham manager Steve Lovell is eager to create.

The 28-year-old, who has made over 250 appearances in the Football League, said: “I am a new player to the team but I am obviously coming in to play, I am not coming here to watch the team play.

“I guess that can only add to the team’s desire to keep doing well.

“I want to help the team continue on this run, in any way possible.

“If I can add to what the team is already doing then that will be a good thing for me, it is a positive place to be and we need players who are going to add to it, if I can do that then that would be great.

“The team is doing really well and I want to be a part of this journey that they’re on.

“We have good competition for places, a good atmosphere at the club and we can push each other to get better.”

Moussa, without a club since leaving Walsall in the summer, clinched a deal until the end of the season and was an unused substitute last weekend.

He worked hard to maintain a high standard of fitness despite being without a club, heading back to his native Belgium at one stage to maintain peak condition.

But it was always England where he wanted to stay.

“I was reluctant to go anywhere else,” he said.

“I was looking for something in the Football League to open up and Gillingham came up with the goods.

“It was a relief, because as a player you just need an open door, to give you a platform. The emphasis is on you to perform and do well but you need a platform and the door to be opened to do that.

“I was grateful that the manager had seen enough in me to believe I can add to his team and now it is up to me to try and perform to repay that.”