Gillingham coach Steve Lovell isn’t interested in looking back.

Much has been said about a problematic 2016/17 season but Lovell, who returns as first team coach for the new campaign, is only interested in what happens next.

He said: “We are looking forward to putting our own stamp on things from the start.

“When you come in half way through a season it is very difficult but we don’t want to go back now and talk about what happened in the past, it’s about what we can do going forward.

“We have got a plan of what we would like to do, in recruitment and in training, and the way we want to prepare the boys for the start of the season.

“We got what we wanted out of the last season, we wanted to stay in League 1 and we want to push forward from now."

Defensive trio Alex Lacey, Luke O’Neill and Gabriel Zakuani have all joined Gillingham so far in the close season.

Lovell said: “It is exciting knowing that there is going to be an improvement on last year.

“We know what is required, I think everyone knows what is required from last year to make it a better outfit, that is something we have to work on.

“Then there is a training plan and a way of playing, systems in training, and making sure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, so when they come to a game on Saturday there are no more excuses.”

Read the full story in Monday's Medway Messenger.