Seb Palmer-Houlden ended his first season at Gillingham in encouraging form – but admits consistency is the biggest challenge ahead.
The striker was rediscovering confidence and producing some of his best performances in a Gills shirt in the latter part of last season after an injury-hit start.
Looking back on the final few months, Palmer-Houlden felt he was beginning to show his true qualities.
“I felt more like myself,” he said. “My best game in a Gills shirt was probably at Walsall [in early April].
“Just because I was creative, I was positive and I got on the scoresheet.
“It showed that I need to be more consistent with the way I play. I think sometimes I can be a bit too hot and cold.
“I just need to stay steady. I think that will help me in the future.”
The 22-year-old believes consistency is something that naturally comes with experience and is determined to find ways of helping the team even when he is not at his best in possession.
“I think it’s part and parcel of being a young player,” he said.
“As you get older, you learn the tricks of the trade and things like that. If you’re not having a great game, it’s what can you do to affect the game?
“For my position, I try to have a great game and I score. It’s all forgotten about. That’s the way it is.
“You’ve got to switch your mindset into thinking what’s the best way you can help the team. I think if you’re not doing great on the ball, you can never have a bad game off the ball.
“That’s what my mindset is trying to change to.”
Palmer-Houlden scored five goals during a campaign he admits never quite got going after an injury in the final pre-season friendly with Dartford.
Having completed a productive summer programme and feeling sharp, the setback proved difficult to take.
“For me, it was frustrating from a personal point of view,” he said.
“Obviously I had an injury very early on that didn’t help me. I thought I started pre-season sharp, even though I didn’t score.
“I felt like I was going to create chances, was going to score goals and then I just couldn’t get going.
“It seemed like when I got back, I scored quite early on and then after that it just started fading a bit.
“Then, towards the end of the season, I started to pick up a bit more confidence in myself. I played a bit more, got a few goals and ended the season in fairly decent form.”
Despite the disappointment of Gillingham’s 17th-place finish, Palmer-Houlden believes the club can draw a line under last season and move forward.
The striker is already looking ahead with optimism as boss Gareth Ainsworth reshapes the squad during the summer.
“It’s going to be like going into a new squad,” he said.
“It’s going to be like going into a new dressing room for me. For all the boys, really, because it’s going to be a complete revamp.”
Among the arrivals is promotion winner James Brophy – who helped Cambridge United to success as the Gills struggled – a signing Palmer-Houlden is excited about.
“There’s lots to look forward to,” he said. “Obviously, a really big signing in James Brophy. It’s going to be great to have him on board.”
After experiencing both highs and lows during his first year at Priestfield, Palmer-Houlden is convinced there is much more to come.
“Unfortunately, there’s been too many lows, I think, this season for me, and not enough highs,” he said.
“But I’m very much the person to just knuckle down and try and work as hard as possible to make things right. I know I can get more [goals]. I did more than that two years ago when I was half the player I feel like I am now.
“But you have ups and downs in football. It’s all about the reaction. Hopefully I react in the right way and give a positive response next year.”
And with a full pre-season behind him and confidence building towards the end of last term, Palmer-Houlden hopes he can use that momentum to deliver the consistency he feels his game has been missing.
“When you know defenders don’t want to defend against you, it just gives you confidence,” he said.
“That’s what I think all football is. It’s just about building confidence for yourself. A lot of it is all momentum.
“Hopefully this season coming up, I can swing the momentum in my way more than I did the season previously.”
