Football Season Guide

Gillingham are coming from a disappointing season, which saw them look like strong direct promotion candidates for just a half of its length, only for a steep decline in the second half of the campaign to cause them to miss out on even a play-off place. However, the Gills have responded strongly to the blow, as they had a positive summer transfer window, during which they made a number of promising signings, and also managed to get Deji Oshilaja back, after the defender had two successful loan spells with them last season. Oshilaja's return is particularly important as the Gills were unable to keep hold of their best defender in John Egan, who joined Brentford for an opportunity to play Championship football, while the only other regular to have left is skipper Doug Loft, whose declining form means that he had to settle for new League Two dwellers Colchester as his new club. The biggest success that the Gills have had during the summer window is that they, somewhat surprisingly, managed to keep hold of Bradley Dack, who had an amazing 2015/16 season, although his impact in the latter stages of the campaign was minimal due to an injury that he suffered. It needs to be noted that last season's Gillingham were not your typical side that started strong and lost momentum, as they had a genuinely valid excuse for their struggles in the injury crisis that they had during the last three months of the season. With their squad now being healed and having the additional quality of proven players such as Scott Wagstaff, Lee Martin, Billy Knott and Paul Konchesky, Justin Edinburgh will trust his men to make a step up compared to last season and make the play-offs.