Gillingham are considering a rethink of the way they approach pre-season following a summer of frustration.

Serious injuries to three of their players, two of which occurred in matches, have left them considering whether to play so many warm-up games.

Aaron Morris suffered a cruciate injury in training while Bradley Garmston dislocated a kneecap against French side AS Etaples and Lee Martin broke and dislocated an ankle against Leyton Orient on Saturday.

New signing Scott Wagstaff misses the start of the season after lasting just eight minutes against Billericay.

None of the matches the Gills played, all of which were away from home, attracted big crowds.

Chairman Paul Scally said: “Pre-season games are a bit of a farce because the mentality is different to the serious stuff which starts on Saturday.

“We tried to protect the pitch this year because we want a decent playing field at Priestfield and so we avoided having games here.

“You don’t get the big money spinners that you used to get 10-15 years ago. Teams go abroad and fans are a bit lethargic about pre-season games generally.

“There was only about 700 at Leyton Orient and you kind of think, ‘what’s the point?’ Do we need pre-season games to get their match fitness or are there other ways of doing it?

“I am sure after this season’s fiascoes the manager will be looking at that and thinking, ‘well, maybe we should just have one or two games and do more training’, I’m not sure.

“You think, ‘are we getting more benefit, or is it to our detriment that we play these games?’ I am not really sure what the answer is to be honest. We will discuss that and see where we go.”