Tom Nichols believes the long wait to make his Gillingham debut could be a positive.

All-action forward Nichols signed on December 28 from Crawley Town but was ineligible to play over the New Year weekend and cup-tied when the Gills took on Leicester City last Saturday. He sat watching those games from the stands.

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Nichols has also been training with his new team-mates and has had plenty of time to integrate himself with the group ahead of what should be his first outing this weekend at home to Hartlepool United.

He said: “The fact I have trained with the team and been able to watch them play, it does help, rather than turning up the day before a game and getting thrown straight in when nobody knows what you are about.

“It could be a big positive that I have been in and around the building for a few weeks now.

“It has been a little frustrating but it has given me a chance to top up my fitness and get used to everyone, so I am really excited to get going now.”

His last competitive game was on November 22, against the Gills. It was a 0-0 draw and Nichols admits it wasn’t his greatest performance. Club bosses at Crawley insisted he wasn’t able to play again while negotiations with another team were taking place.

Despite that lack of game-time, Nichols believes he’s ready to play.

He said: “I like to keep myself in good shape, I train hard, obviously there is nothing like match fitness, but I don’t feel too sluggish.

“I was keeping fit throughout so I have not had any down period really. It might have even done my body good to have had a rest.

“Because I haven’t played for a while, it makes me more eager to get out there and it is nice that it is [at] home. I'm looking forward to it.”

It’s a fresh start for Nichols after leaving a club who have been going through managers at some rate. Recently-appointed Scott Lindsey is Crawley's fifth of the season.

“It’s a fresh start for me now,” he said. “It’s never nice having that many managers in a season at that club, I am glad I am out of it and looking forward to focussing on the pitch.”

Nichols was the first new signing of the Galinson era. Gills' American owner paid to bring the striker to the club. The 29-year-old player believes there is plenty to look forward to once they get out of their current trouble.

The Gills are bottom of League 2.

He said: “We need to pick up results and, if we pick up a few it will snowball, you can sense the fans want to get behind us and with a few wins that will improve further and hopefully we can create a really good atmosphere. We just need to get results on the pitch

“It’s a big club with a good infrastructure in place, we need to stay up so we can have a right good go next season and look at the right end of the table.

“We are not doing well enough in the league, which we all know, but it is a big club, big fan base, we need to get the ball rolling and points on the board. We need to improve results on the pitch and that is what we’ll be aiming to do.

“The new chairman Brad Galinson has said he has lots to work on, lots to do and he is putting his money where his mouth is, signing players, it is exciting times.

"Foundations are already here, we need to finish strongly this season, stay up and then go from there.”