Mark Byrne may be one of the smallest players in the Gills team but he’s still playing a key role in their set-piece plays.

His long throws caused Bradford plenty of problems last weekend and he is a threat in the air.

Byrne said: “Last year, when the gaffer came in, we scored a few from set pieces towards the end of the season.

“We saw it from Bolton last year, even this year as well. Watching their game last week, they scored twice from set pieces. It is key and it is key to defend them as well.

“We do have a lot of big lads and they want to attack the ball and are more hungry.”

The majority of head coach Ady Pennock’s signings this season have been over six foot tall.

“We have a big team this year but I can still jump as high as they can,” insisted the Irish midfielder.

“I think my jumping has come from playing Gaelic sports, it’s physical and you have to be strong. If you see a lot of Irish people they can jump, it has come from that.

“We do have a much bigger team and will be looking to score a lot of goals from set pieces. A lot of goals come from crosses and set pieces and if we can score a few of them, we would be more than happy.

“We had a few chances from throws and Lee Martin put some great balls in, from which we could have scored two or three against Bradford.”

In the end, Gills drew a blank, following on from a goalless draw at Doncaster but Byrne and his team-mates are confident the results will turn.

He said: “We just didn’t put our chances away. We were up against one of the league favourites and we matched them.

“We were disappointed we didn’t get something from the game. We were the better team.”

While Byrne admits the goal they conceded against Bradford was “sloppy,” he believes they are unlikely to be conceding such goals regularly this season.

He said: “Cutting out the sloppy mistakes is the main thing we have to do and it will come. We are stronger defensively and will score goals but as we are a new team it might take a few games to get used to each other.”

Byrne played in last season’s game at Stadium MK, which the Gills lost 3-2, in a match which was a bad one defensively for the side.

He said: “It was a frustrating game and first half we were nowhere near it.

“We did great to get back into the game in the second half but conceded in the last 30 seconds (to lose), with a sloppy, sloppy goal. It was an horrendous one to give away so late on.

“Last year we were giving away some stupid goals. We have a lot of new faces and it’s different this year.”