Gillingham’s players are due back next week and Ethan Coleman has learned the hard way how important a solid pre-season is.
Coleman’s got a big few weeks ahead of him as he looks to get fit and prove to manager Gareth Ainsworth what he can bring to the team.
It was an injury-hit 2024/25 for the midfielder, who had missed last summer’s pre-season with a problem picked up the back end of the previous campaign. Just as he was getting back in the flow of things, a second issue hit him.
That frustration has now given way to excitement for a fresh challenge.
“Last season was tough,” Coleman admitted. “It was very injury-oriented. I couldn’t really get going. When I felt like I’d just about got to the level that I showed the year before, I then had another injury.
“I’d gone into the season injured, and that was disappointing for me. I’d never experienced that in my life, where you’re injured pre-season, and I really think it has a massive effect on you. I think it kills you sometimes.
“You see all the other boys coming in from training, doing all this running, and as much as you don’t like running, you do at the same time because you’re banking runs, banking minutes and training on the field.
“It was really tough for me at the start of the season, mentally as well.”
The 25-year-old had played 49 games the year before but managed less than half that last season.
“I put myself on a pedestal of not being injured,” he said.
“Throughout my men’s career, I’d missed maybe one or two games due to illness, or a little tight hamstring or something. Last year was completely different and it’s about dealing with it and moving on now.”
Coleman picked up bone bruising in an ankle towards the end of the 23/24 season but with just four games to play he knew he had a summer to get over the problem – but it wasn’t straightforward.
“It can take up to six months to a year to properly reset,” he said.
“We got injections and stuff to numb the pain and that helped a lot. I can still feel it slightly now but only when I’m doing gym stuff on my ankle. I can’t feel it when I’m out there running and stuff. That was my problem then.”
Coleman’s overeagerness to impress led to a red card shortly after getting over that injury, picking up two cautions in the home game against Tranmere.
He eventually got back involved and was getting into form as a regular starter. Namesake manager John Coleman picked him for his first game in charge at home to Doncaster, but Coleman suffered a calf strain, an injury that almost ended his season.
He only came back for the last two matches, making appearances off the bench for Ainsworth’s form side.
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Coleman recalled: “I had a niggle, and a lot of players would tell you they are often carrying something most of the time, but we travelled to Tranmere and as soon as I got off the coach I knew I wouldn’t be playing. It had seized up massively.
“I thought, ‘okay, it’ll be fine in two weeks’ but the scan revealed it was a more longer-term injury again and that was a bit heartbreaking.
“Before that injury I felt like I was near enough back to where I knew I could be.
“As a player that’s been injured for that period of time, you’re so excited to be back on the field, you’re so excited to be training, let alone playing a game. When I did get on in the last two games of the season and was involved, you forget how good it is!
“You forget what it’s like playing in front of big crowds and enjoying playing football.
“Coming on for those two games helped more mentally than anything and I could feel that ‘I’m ready to go, now I can do pre-season’.
“I spoke to the gaffer and he said we’ll just look forward to pre-season, basically.
“As soon as a new manager comes in, you’ve got to do what you do, you’ve got to impress him. For me, personally, I haven’t had as much opportunity as other players, which is too right, because I have had two long-term injuries.
“It was the right decision for me to obviously not start games but I’m really pleased he got me involved in the last two. It gives you that mental boost over the summer to really work hard, get back to where you were fitness-wise.”
Coleman got half an hour on the pitch at Port Vale as the Gills ended last season with a win over the League 2 runners-up.
“When you get on that form it’s like you don’t want the season to stop,” he said.
“The previous year, at the end of the season, I needed a break but at the end of the last season I didn’t want it to end!
“[The manager] has brought in that positivity and it showed in the games he took towards the end of the season. We really had a good spell at the end of the year.
“It just shows that we can compete at the right end of the table. That’s going to be the goal for next year. We’ve shown we’re a match for anyone and if we remain consistent we’ll stay in the mix.
“The gaffer knows how hard it is to come back from those longer-term injuries and try and be as good as you want to be. Fitness-wise, as a player, for me personally, I need to be at my fittest to be at my best.
“As much as a player doesn’t like pre-season, it’s vital. To be honest, I didn’t realise how vital it was until this year just gone.”
Gillingham’s players are due back in the middle of next week, initially for testing, ahead of some hard graft on the training pitch.
Ainsworth said: “We’ll find out where the baselines are, where every player is and then we’ve got to get going from that weekend.
“We’ve got some great pre-season games coming up. Really good ones, real good tests for us, and hopefully we can show what were capable of come August 2.
Gillingham’s first scheduled pre-season match is on Tuesday, July 8 away at Dover.
