Gillingham players face a relentless schedule on their return after their summer breaks.

Boss Steve Evans and his backroom team have just over a month to get Gillingham into top shape ahead of their season opener at Doncaster on August 6 – and there won’t be much time to rest.

Evans said: “We need to make sure the minimum we are is the fittest and the sharpest team and level to anything in League 1.

“We don’t want to be playing catch-up when the season starts, that’s important.”

Gills return for two days of testing on Thursday and face their first pre-season match next week, with a training ground fixture against a Championship side. They then visit Faversham on Saturday, July 6.

Evans has put together a busy pre-season schedule.

There are plans to take the team to a UK-based training camp before the pre-season schedule steps up a pace.

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“They are in straight for the first nine days,” said Evans. “There are no days off.

“It doesn’t mean they will be in all day, every day, but they will be working more hours than they were probably going to be doing.”

Evans has kept fitness coach James Russell at the club and his role will be crucial in the coming weeks.

The Gills boss said: “We have a plan, we have inherited James Russell, we have taken on his views. There will be more sessions, more individual sessions, more sessions involving particular departments.

“They will enjoy it. You enjoy getting better, don’t you? It’s not punishment, it’s about making you better. It is to improve their skills.

“We will go away for three or four days. There will be three sessions a day, physical early morning, midday there will be a water session or an indoor session and then afternoon there will be a pitch session and then you mix that up.

“There will be team building exercises within that, when they come back from that week they will know each other. That is massive, off the pitch as well, it is just about putting that spirit together in the team. It will be good to get away with them.”

What Evans will be keen to avoid are the injury problems that have blighted the club over the past few seasons.

He said: “I felt sorry for Steve Lovell with the injury issues, from a distance, but I will probably be a bit less tolerant.

“We have to make sure every penny we spend on the team budget will count.”

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