Mark McCammon tries his hand at hairdressing as he tends to Josh Gowling’s new barnet at Gills’ photocall Picture: Andy Payton

The pressure is on, and for a moment I’m not talking about our quest to return to League 1.

I have been asked to give you all an insight into our push for promotion this season, taking over from John Nutter’s weekly column last year.

Nutsy, who sees himself as a highly-intelligent guy, has told me I have a high standard to follow, so here goes...

After a mixed summer trying to get over the disappointment of last season (which I will not mention again), it was nice to get back to training on July 1 to see the lads and it wasn’t long before the banter started when Josh Gowling arrived with his new, fluffy barnet.

With a new manangement team in place, everybody has been eager to impress.

The gaffer, along with Ian Hendon and Nicky (Trigger) Southall, has been quick to put into place his ideas and what is expected from us. The main thing is that there will be no excuses for not working hard.

Which brings me to pre-season.

Footballers moan about most things, and doing too much running is no exception, so pre-season is a pure mental test for us.

Running in what has been one of the hottest summers for a few years has been tough. The usual bleep tests and 12-minute runs have been mixed in with Trigger’s leg-burning drill from Bolton pre-seasons of the 1980s, so there was definitely a sense of relief when the games started.

They give the manager a chance to look at everyone and try out different formations. Pre-season matches are, in a way, very false as the team gets mixed around along with many trialists who are keen to impress but sometimes not up to the level required. It is, however, not hard to see why some of them have earned their contracts and have now settled into the squad – they look sure to play major roles in the season ahead.

Pre-season overall has been successful, with the squad taking on board what is being asked of us. It is going to be a headache for the gaffer when he has to select a team to play Cheltenham.

It has been well publicised that nothing but promotion will do, but it’s not going to fall on a plate for us. League 2 is a very tough league to get out of, with some grounds and atmospheres where you really need to have the right mentality to play in. This year it’s not about looking forward to playing at Southampton or Leeds, it’s going to Accrington and Bury and being strong and hard to play against.

Saturday gives us the opportunity to get off to a good start and send a message to the rest of the league. No disrespect to our opponents, but if we perform how we know we can, especially at home with our fantastic support behind us, we will have too much for them.

We also have a nice match in the Carling Cup at Norwich to look forward to on Tuesday night where the pressure is off, but it gives us a chance to enjoy moving the ball around on an excellent pitch.

It also means meeting up with a couple of old friends in Andrew Crofts and Simeon Jackson, who both earned deserved moves to a top club.

After Jacko said his goodbyes last month it wasn’t long before the boys told him they couldn’t wait to kick him up in the air when we meet in the cup!

Yes, we will miss Jacko’s goals, but the strikeforce we have now looks the strongest I have seen, with a good mix of pace, strength and, most importantly, goals. Good luck to all the centre-halves if Mark McCammon and Adebayo Akinfenwa form a good partnership!

Speaking on behalf of the players, we look forward to hearing you get behind us home and away this season. You really do make a difference as we look to get our club back into League 1.

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