Gills boss Martin Allen has invited out-of-contract pair Deon Burton and Tommy Forecast to pre-season training.

The pair were part of Gillingham’s League 2 title-winning team last season but have yet to be offered new deals.

Allen wants them both to stay at Priestfield but is being careful about how he distributes his playing budget.

He said: “I have invited the players back to pre-season training but no contracts have been agreed until we know the situation with other players, that’s how it will stay during the pre-season.

“Deon and Tommy have been invited back. Both did great last year for us and both of them are always welcome to Gillingham with us.

“We will see what we can afford, what we can offer them but we have other players that we need to bring in before we get to that point.”

Gillingham’s players are back on Wednesday morning for their first session and they will have three days of training before kicking off their first pre-season match.

The Gills face Faversham at 1pm on Saturday and that game is followed by a 3pm kick-off at Ashford’s Homelands ground.

All of the players were weighed before leaving for their summer breaks and all will be assessed upon their return but manager Allen isn’t expecting any problems with their condition.

He said: “I know they will all come back fit, in good shape. I hope they are all excited about coming back.

“They all know they are going to get an enjoyable five weeks of pre-season, they all know they are going to get some good laughs. It will be enjoyable, it will be hard work.

“We pride ourselves as staff to making sure our players get treated the best and get well looked after. On the other side of it, we expect the same from them.”