Gillingham manager Steve Evans says the spine of his team needs strengthening.

He’s busy looking for new signings to come in this month as he looks to bring more consistency to the team. Results and performances have been hard to predict so far.

“We know we need to add to our group,” said the Gills boss.

“I have already gone on record saying that if I don’t add to the group then there is no point me being here, because you can see what we are operating with, there were players on the bench (on Saturday) that couldn’t go on (through lack of fitness).

“We have the lowest budget in the division but at least we know the players and staff will get paid, not like some clubs.

“We have to be looking all over the pitch don’t we? We are very limited to what we can do. If you are looking in central defence Jack (Tucker) had a poor spell so we brought Declan (Drysdale) in.

“We are looking at the spine of the team, where we certainly need to strengthen, but the chairman is good with that.

“We can’t just sign players for the sake of it.”

Teams in League 1 are already doing business but the Gills know their place in the queue.

Evans said: “Once teams higher than us try and strengthen their group then they might be available and that is the name of the game, the same as when I have been asked about one or two from teams in the Conference and League 2. I have said they may be available but I don’t know yet?”

The Gills boss said he hoped to be able to bring a couple of players in before the weekend.

Evans added: “We are working really hard but it has to be players we think can help the group. They are screaming for help.

“We are trying. We have been decimated. We have got the smallest squad, people talk about their squad size, but we started the season with seven players, we had no training facilities for about six months, going from one ground to another, so there has been a lot against us but that group in the dressing room has kept going, kept fighting and if the second half (on Saturday) is any indication of how we can play then we have nothing to fear.”

Gillingham were back at their own Beechings Cross training ground this week, after a long wait for renovation work to take place. Contaminated soil had been used on the pitches in the summer, making them unsafe to train on.

Read more on the Gills