Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth is confident he’s improved the squad after completing his summer transfer business on Monday.
It was a busy final day of the window for the Gills, with the loan arrivals of young Watford defender Travis Akomeah and Wigan winger Jonny Smith, along with 38-year-old forward Garath McCleary following his release from Wycombe.
They follow the signings of Seb Palmer-Houlden, Sam Vokes, Andy Smith and Lenni Cirino, together with a handful of fresh deals for existing players such as Bradley Dack.
Joe Gbode’s departure to Luton Town for an undisclosed fee completed the Gills’ summer transfer business.
Ainsworth said: “Hopefully Joe will go and flourish at a League 1 club, and we’ll see. It’s up to Joe and Luton and what they do with him.
“I think the three that walked in [on Monday] have really raised the bar, and I’m looking forward to working with them.
“I believe that from the day I walked in to now, the squad’s better than it was.”
Key to improving the Gills for any recent manager has been to get them scoring more. They have scored in all of Ainsworth’s 17 games in charge.
The manager is sure the attacking additions will help further, and they aren’t short of options now in the forward areas – even with the sale of Gbode and the termination of Jack Nolan’s contract.
Ainsworth said: “We certainly have [more options] and that was something that we looked at when we came in. We thought that we would need some keys to unlock some pretty tight doors. When teams come here, especially now with where we are [top of the league], they’re going to lock their defences up quite tight.
“We’ve got Bradley [Dack] who can pick a lock for fun. He’s a great player and played at a very high level, but you talk about Aaron Rowe, McCleary, Jonny Smith, these are players that can get through tight areas and get crosses in the box.
“The club has been guilty of not scoring enough goals in the past. I think we can go one step back and go, ‘We haven’t created enough chances’, and I think these boys will create chances. I think that’s what we’re crying out for, and fingers crossed, that’s my plan, and we’ll see how it goes.”
Smith, 28, is a player Ainsworth was tracking for some time while he managed 38-year-old McCleary at Wycombe.
He said: “Jonny Smith is somebody I’ve chased for a long time. When he was at Bristol City and Burton and when I was at Wycombe we always had an eye on Jonny Smith.
“He’s very exciting, carries the ball well, can play left and right, assists, crosses, scores goals. He’s a real tenacious character, but a great character around the place.
“And then Garath McCleary. We fought off some higher-division clubs, one club especially, for his signature.
“I thank (managing director) Joe Comper, Kelly (Derham, secretary) and (owners) Brad and Shannon (Galinson) for the work they’ve done behind the scenes on that one.
“Believe me, eyebrows will be raised for a 38-year-old joining, but I think they’ll be raised even more when you see what Garath McCleary can offer when he’s on it.”
