Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth hopes to have at least one more new face in the squad before the League 2 season gets under way.
Ainsworth’s made two new signings so far this summer, with strikers Sam Vokes and Seb Palmer-Houlden joining, but with numbers already high, he admits there might have to be some shuffling done to the squad.
The Gills manager has made it clear he wants a smaller squad than last season but he’s currently got 21 senior outfield players and another seven young pros looking to get in among it.
“I’d love to get two new faces in – definitely one,” said Ainsworth.
“I think it’d be good for the group. It would be good for the team and the fans to be excited by a new face.
“Whether we can do it or not will be a different story but I’ve got the backing from [owners] Brad and Shannon [Galinson].
“They’re right behind me in what I want to do.
“But, obviously, you don’t want too many players either. We can’t have too many.
“I think it might be one out, one in. That’s what we might have to do.
“But at the moment, there’s nobody on the radar that I want to push out. It’s a work in progress.
“But by the first game of the season, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a new face in the building.”
With so many players in the first-team squad the Gills are likely to use the loan market to free up space.
Ainsworth, speaking ahead of Tuesday night’s Dover friendly, admitted he had too many players on the books at present.
“[Taking] 20 players to Dover, with six or seven not involved, that’s 26-27 outfield players not including the keepers. That’s too much for me so I need to slim the squad down as well.
“You will see players going and getting experience elsewhere, going out on loan, towards the start of the season but at the moment it’s all up for grabs.”
One player Gills have been looking at is young left-back Lenny Cirino, a Montserrat international who came through the academy at Blackburn Rovers before being released and spending time last season at non-league Clitheroe.
He played the second half at Dover and the Gills might need cover in that area to compete with Max Clark.
Ainsworth said: “We’re just having a look at Lenny but he’s done okay.
“We’ve brought Lenny into train with us and he held his own [against Dover] and that’s the challenge, actually, in a pre-season game.”
The Gills are back on home soil this Saturday when they welcome League 1 Reading.
“It’ll be great to be back at Priestfield and see the fans coming in,” said Ainsworth.
“I can’t wait to see where we are at home with a nice new pitch and let’s put one over on a League 1 side.”
