Gillingham manager Neil Harris has had to manage expectations this summer but he's as excited as the fans for the new season to start.

Good numbers will be following the Gills to Stockport this Saturday for the League 2 opener, with around 700 heading north this weekend.

More: Chairman hoping to make the community proud

Harris said: “The majority (of fans) understand we have come such a long way in a short space of time and we still have a way to go, but why not be a little excited?

“Win, lose or draw at Stockport, they will come in numbers against Southampton (in the League Cup on Tuesday night) and Accrington (at home next Saturday) because there is a feel-good factor and they want to support the team and be part of it. They have a club to be proud of now.

“They have enjoyed what they have seen and bought into the influx of the American love and energy that (owners) Brad and Shannon (Galinson) have brought and why not? Everyone should. We all have. Fans are excited and rightly so.

“We have come a long way in a short space of time but there has to be some perspective, we are still not competing with six or seven other clubs in the division who have way more money than us, there is the perspective but there has to be the ambition as well, balanced with the excitement factor.

“We are a club that’s going places. I stood out on the pitch looking at the LEDs (being installed around the ground) and the quality of the pitch and the amount of staff with a smile on their face walking around, and at training, the lads are buzzing.

“My job is to make sure I balance that perspective and expectation level and find a happy medium.”

Mr Galinson has already stated that promotion isn’t necessarily a must this season but wants the team to do the community proud.

Harris is sure he has a team that will do just that.

Can they make top seven? “That has to be the aim of the football club and the group in the changing room,” said the manager.

“We have to have aspirations to be the best we can and take heart from last year that we picked up 42 points in the second half of the season. We have to strive to be as good as that.”

Harris believes they are up against the title favourites this weekend but plenty are tipping his team to do well.

He said: “People will make an assumption seeing two teams who finished with the most points in the second half of the season, Stockport for me are probably the best squad in the league, pressure on them straight away, they should get promoted this year.

“For us, I think a lot of people have summed us up well by saying we are the dark horses to be in there, because we did so well in the second half of the season.

“We have a tight squad, still looking to add, improvements to make in the group and on the pitch but we are excited about the prospect this year.

“I don’t feel a lot of expectation inside the building or pressure to be a promotion-winning side, which is also a nice position to be in, because we finished like a steam train last year and we are going to attack every game this season like we did every one at the end of the last one.”

The Gills are carrying injuries heading into their first game.

Conor Masterson and Jonny Williams missed the last pre-season match at Dagenham while there is a chance keeper Glenn Morris could also be missing.

Harris said: “We are still a bit light top end, we have had a couple of injuries. Oli Hawkins is struggling, he won’t make the weekend, he is not in the plans and one or two others might be missing.

“It makes it extremely tough when you have a light group, that is where we go back to perspective, and the need to add quality to the group to compete with the likes of Stockport and Salford and Wrexham and Notts county, Bradford and Mansfield and so on.

“There will be a lot of ups and downs over the course of the first 10-12 games, it is making sure I am the steady one all the way through it, nice and calm, but we want to achieve.

“We want to attack the games and be on the front foot and we want to enjoy it. From January last year, when Brad and Shannon walked into the building we enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, I want to do the same this year.”