Gillingham midfielder Dom Jefferies has experienced a melting pot of football experiences and feels better for it.

From watching on at Newport, to non-league football at Salisbury and then the B Team life at Brentford, the midfielder’s experienced a lot in a short period of time.

He’s quickly made over 50 appearances for the Gills and is still only 21.

“I didn’t expect to play that many games, it has come around quick and I didn’t expect it to be honest.

“It’s a different jump and scenario compared to under-23 football, it has been tough but I have loved every minute of it.”

Jefferies was released by Newport and ended up playing at Salisbury under Steve Claridge, who helped restore his belief that he could make it.

He captained Brentford’s B Team and was named their player-of-the-year but he turned down another year there in favour of playing in the Football League, which is when he ended up at Gillingham.

He said: “I have gone from Newport who are in League 2 and then to Salisbury, non-league, the gritty side of it, then I went to the nicey-nicey tiki-taka side of it and then to Gillingham.

“I have had a mixture of all different styles and playing ways, different managers, I took it all into my game and doing the best I can.”

Welshman Jefferies admitted it had been trough dropping into non-league after Newport decided to release him. He had progressed through the club’s academy and scholarship programme.

He said: “It is really tough mentally when you have been going in every day to training, but then everything is almost taken away from you.

“You go from training every day and doing the right things to nothing at all but if you really fight and give everything you can into it, you can get back up there (into professional football).

“Throughout life and football you have to keep bouncing back, try and believe in yourself and do the best you can.

“Steve Claridge was great, he looked after me, put a lot of trust in me. I was only 17 when I went there but he made me believe I could get back there and so did my family, then you have to believe yourself you can get back there.

“Once I started playing regularly for Salisbury, it might sound a bit arrogant, but I knew I was above that level and I wanted more out of it than just being non-league.

“I still used to train every day and act like I was a professional footballer, even though I wasn’t. I would train 9-3 every day, eat the right things, just hoping. You need a bit of luck on your side and someone was at a game and scouted me and I went to Brentford.”

Jefferies jumped straight to a whole new level but quickly adapted.

He said: “When I first went there, for the first two weeks, if I am honest I was nowhere near the level but after those first few weeks I realised what I needed to do, I was staying doing extra stuff and it eventually paid off for me.

“In my last six to eight months I was captain of the team, I loved every minute of it but sometimes it can be false, in the sense of how people play.

“It is a good stepping stone to get you ready for adult football, you play adult teams, like our B team played Maidstone the other night. I got to play against teams in different countries, different styles of football, it is a good learning curve to get you ready for adult football.”

Jefferies was eased in at the Gills, playing the first half of the opening game of the 22/23 season after joining that summer but he didn’t start another league fixture until this time last year. Since then game-time has become much more frequent.

“It has been really tough,” he admitted. “As soon as I came in it wasn’t what I expected, I had been in and around it at Newport before the under-23s but I never made a league appearance, I was only watching.

“Physically and mentally it is tough on the body and in your head, going Saturday-Tuesday constantly, cup games included as well, it is a big ask, even though I am young and people say ‘well, you’ve loads of legs’, I do feel it as well sometimes! But it is good, I have enjoyed it.

“This is what I wanted. I had the option to stay at Brentford and another year of 23s football, or to go out on loan, but I wanted to make a permanent move to an EFL side and luckily this came about. I have played 50 games now under my best at the age of 21 and I am really happy about that.”

Jefferies has experienced the ups and downs of league football at the Gills, none more so than in the last few weeks. The man who signed him, Neil Harris, has gone and there’s a big game to focus on this Saturday, against Notts County.

“It’s a very big game,” he said. “They are a great side, keep the ball, but we are a great side at home and we’ve shown that, plenty of teams have come here wanting to keep the ball and they seem to struggle.

“Both have got good squads, good targets and it will be a tough game. They have some really good players, but so have we. It’s a big pressure game but we need to relax and enjoy the occasion.”

With Keith Millen in charge, it’s a chance to experience something new before another manager takes over.

He said: “Keith pushes us every day, puts stuff into us, teaching us new things, different styles and we will wait and see who comes in.

“Keith has been brilliant, regrouped us, took the negatives away, filled it with positives, helped us get together with that news that happened (after Harris was sacked). We are working hard for him every day and we’re enjoying it.

“Last week (at Walsall, losing 4-1) wasn’t really a Gillingham performance, we’re struggling away from home, we are creating, we just need to take our chances. Some of the clips we have seen back, things that we can improve on and we have worked on those things this week.”