Gillingham manager Martin Allen is excited by the prospect of testing his team against Championship side Charlton Athletic this weekend.

The Addicks come to Priestfield for the penultimate pre-season fixture of Gillingham’s summer campaign and could well give fans the chance to see what is likely to be close to Allen’s starting eleven for the new season.

An unbeaten run in pre-season has given Gillingham a lot of confidence going into the new season and Allen told KSN how his entire squad were pushing for a place in his side to play Bristol City in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday 14th August:

“They can all play in a winning eleven, there’s no doubt about that. They can all be involved, so we will mix and match to see what we come up with.”

“You’ve got to be careful how much you work them though as you don’t want to pick up injuries and knocks.”

“Charlton at home will be good. It’s exciting. It’s a local derby and it’ll be a good game.”

There has been one new addition to the squad already this week with Milton Keynes Dons defender Tom Flanagan having signed on loan until January and he is expected to be handed his debut on Saturday.

Both Connor Essam and Andy Frampton picked up ankle knocks at Dover Athletic on Tuesday night, but Allen is hoping the pair will be fit to take part this weekend.

Meanwhile, both Lewis Montrose and Charlie Allen sustained dead legs at The Crabble, but again Allen believes they will be fine for this weekend.

With the new league season just a fortnight away, Allen told KSN how he was getting excited about the prospect of playing competitive football:

“It’s exciting and you can see the commitment of all the players. They have been full on and are focused. Nearly everyone has had a ninety minutes under their belt.”

“We have got a good group of people and a good group of footballers and fantastic staff, so I’m excited about the season ahead.”