Winger Jermaine McGlashan won’t have long to wait to face former club Gillingham.

The 28-year-old, who was released by the Gills in the summer, has joined Southend United on a two-year contract, subject to a medical.

Gillingham will come up against Southend in their season opener on August 6 and return four days later for a League Cup first round match.

McGlashan made 57 league appearances for Gillingham but 28 of those were from the substitute bench.

His seven goals for the club came during the 2014/15 season, ironically scoring the first goal of the Justin Edinburgh era, netting in a 2-0 win over Sheffield United.

Last season, however, he struggled to find a position suited to the way manager Justin Edinburgh set up his side, preferring to use the full-backs to provide the width.

McGlashan, speaking to the Southend United website, said: “I’ve played against Southend a few times, I know one or two players here and there’s some quality players in the squad so my mind was pretty much made up after I met with the club.

“People that know me know that I’ve got a lot of pace and I like to get at the full back and I really want to add goals and assists to this team.

“The way the manager wants to play suits me down to the ground and now I just can’t wait to get started.”