New signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas believes Gillingham will be a force upfront this season.

The former Arsenal academy player made his debut for the Gills at Southend on Saturday, scoring one and making another in the 3-1 win, after joining on loan from QPR.

“I got a little taste of the team,” he said. “The players found me with the ball and also made runs off me. I feel like it is going to be a great attacking force.

“I knew that the club had a very good last season and when I spoke to the manager and his staff I was made to feel welcome and like I could help the club do something special.

“We got off to a bit of a slow start (on Saturday) but it’s the first game of the season so you would expect that.

“The end result is all that matters and after a 3-1 win you get that spirit where you think you can keep it going, like the team did for the majority of last season.

“It was a decent performance from myself. A decent goal, a good assist and a 3-1 win, so all round it was a good day.”

Emmanuel-Thomas’ goal levelled the match as he finished low through a crowd of bodies, striking home from a Paul Konchesky corner.

It was a move they had been working on during Friday training but one the striker admits didn’t come off until the actual game.

He said: “I didn’t strike one as clean as that on Friday but I said ‘don’t worry, it’s all about tomorrow’. I had one shot and one goal and I can’t really complain at that.”