Gillingham are determined to get goals from new boy Mikael Mandron.

They’ve seen the striker net three times in pre-season, including the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Southend United on Friday night.

It’s one more than he managed in 46 appearances for Colchester United last season and Gillingham assistant boss Paul Raynor believes he could surprise a few with his goals in League 1.

Raynor said: “We have been banging on at him for the last few

days, once we knew we had him permanently, that he needs to be a little bit more selfish.

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“He needs to score more goals and he can’t always be the link man, which is what he has been throughout his career.

“We have watched him for many, many years and he has always held the ball up well, linked it and been a focal point, but his goal record isn’t fantastic.”

Mandron found the net frequently when at Conference club Eastleigh, scoring 15 goals in 33 appearances.

That record led to Wigan paying an undisclosed fee for his services but he stayed there for just half a season. He has spent the last two years with Colchester, before being released in the summer.

“We are going to try and get him in the box more,” continued Raynor.

“More of a focal point, to score goals, as opposed to trying to link and trying to create things.

“If we can get goalscoring into his game, with the attributes he’s got – big, strong, quick, powerful – then he could be a bit of a dark horse this season and score a lot more goals than people expect.

“We don’t want him out there crossing them, we don’t want him setting up that first one and not getting into the box, he needs to be getting into the box and be a handful in between the goalposts.”

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