Gillingham forced to wait to see true success of Mark Bonner recruitment drive: View | OneFootball

Gillingham's new squad offers plenty of hope for a promotion push, but managing injuries will be crucial after key players missed Gills' early games.

Four games into the 2024/25 League Two season, Gillingham find themselves at the top of the league.

Mark Bonner has made a flying start to the new season with three wins and a draw in the Kent club's early fixtures, and hopes are high that even better things are still to come.

That’s because the Gills’ fast start has come despite Bonner having a slew of key players missing from his lineup.

They made a host of big signings during the off-season, but Bonner wasn’t able to select from his full first-team squad for any of his first three league games of the season. And it’s only when those key players return to full fitness and get some league games under their belts that we will truly learn just how dangerous Gillingham could be this season.

Gillingham’s attack is now armed with legitimate goal threats

Gillingham’s biggest failure last season was the team’s inability to put the ball in the net and a significant number of the club’s summer signings have been brought in to address that shortcoming.

Elliott Nevitt had an impressive season last year with Crewe, and will bring work rate, physicality and, Gills fans hope, goals to Bonner’s side, while the late-window acquisition of Gillingham legend Bradley Dack brings a Championship-quality forward to the team who can operate as a withdrawn striker, or as an attacking midfielder. In both roles, he’s more than capable of giving the Gills more of a goal threat this season.

Both Nevitt and Dack are working their way back to full fitness, and both played a half during Gillingham’s EFL Trophy defeat to Peterborough United on Tuesday night. To add to the positivity surrounding their return, Nevitt also notched his first competitive goal in a Gills shirt with a towering headed finish from a Max Clark cross.

Add the return to action of six-foot-six target man Josh Andrews – who is also returning from an injury-plagued summer – and Bonner is starting to get his attacking weapons primed as the team heads into September and October.

Gills midfield looks stronger after summer additions

Jack Nolan has already made an impact on the right flank after his arrival from Accrington this summer, but his fellow summer arrival, winger Aaron Rowe, has suffered with injuries already, and against Chesterfield at the weekend was forced off after just 20 minutes with what looked like a tight hamstring.

Elsewhere, the club is trying to build up the fitness of Armani Little and Jonny Williams, while Ethan Coleman finally made his first minutes of game time against Peterborough after missing pre-season with an ankle injury. Meanwhile, scorer of Gillingham's opening goal of the season, Timothee Dieng, has found himself on the treatment table after picking up an early injury.

But, with the likes of Little, Williams, and Coleman, the outstanding early-season form of Robbie McKenzie, plus a resurgent George Lapslie, and the wide threat of Nolan, Gillingham’s midfield looks significantly stronger and will be even more so when the likes of Dieng and Rowe return, and Coleman gets more minutes into his legs to build his match fitness.

Injury management will be crucial to Gills’ League Two success

Gillingham have a number of injuries they’re still trying to manage, including centre-half Conor Masterson and first-choice goalkeeper Jake Turner. But with some key attacking players starting to bring themselves up to speed after time away from active duty, Bonner will have the chance to load up the team with his best offensive talent in the coming weeks.

With the cut and thrust of League Two football likely to throw up plenty more challenges as the season progresses, the onus will be on Bonner to utilise his squad smartly, and on the Gills’ physio and fitness coaches to not just get Bonner’s players fit, but maintain their fitness throughout the season.

If they are able to keep the majority of their key players fit for the majority of the season, they look capable of mounting a serious promotion push. But, as many managers up and down the country will surely attest, titles aren’t just won on matchdays. They’re also won on the training ground and in the treatment room.

If Bonner’s Gills stars can get fit, and stay fit, things could get very exciting at Priestfield this season.