Gillingham boss Steve Evans has made nine signings this summer – but the most important are yet to arrive.

He’s hoping for “three or four” more recruits before the start of the season to complete his squad rebuild.

More arrivals could be checking into Priestfield this week, ahead of another weekend double header, with a home game against Southend (Friday) and a trip to Stevenage (Saturday) on the horizon.

Evans said: “We are trying to help the group as best we can. The players are working incredibly hard but we are limited on options in one or two positions.

“We need to add to it and we will add to it but as I have told Gillingham fans in and around the town in the last few days, we have to add to it properly.

"These are big pieces in the jigsaw puzzle.

“The squad, in reality, is still three or four players away from being completed. Everyone here is working around the clock to make sure we sign these key players.

“The lads that are here now need a little more help. In my humble opinion, with a lot of experience at this level, it tells me that the signings over the next one, two or three weeks will be a key point as to how successful we are over the course of the season.

“The last signings are usually the most important ones, whether it’s someone who leads the line or just an important established player who will start most weeks.

"The last three or four signings we make are really key for us.”

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The Gills were short of cover in the full-back area on Saturday, with youngsters Ben Allen and Henry Woods covering late on. Right-back Lee Hodson was missing with concussion. Up-front they are certainly still short, with just two senior strikers in the squad.

Gillingham beat a strong Charlton team 3-1 at Priestfield and the management were happy with how solid they were in that match but Evans felt they could have done more going forward.

He said: “Maybe in the first half, when we had really good possession breaking into the final third, there was a bit of quality missing from our final ball.

“Sometimes that can be missing in pre-season with a couple of weeks to go and certainly in the next two weeks we’ll be sharpening the boys up and some of that will naturally take care of itself.”

Gills are back on the road on Tuesday night with a game at Andy Hessenthaler’s Dover. That game has been moved to an earlier kick off of 7pm.

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