A frosty reception may await Danny Jackman at Northampton on Saturday but all he is focusing on is getting a win to keep Gillingham’s promotion hopes alive.

Jackman, pictured, admits he regrets the way he departed the Cobblers in 2009 for the Gills after finishing the previous two years as their player-of-the-season.

"It may be a frosty reception, which is fine," Jackman said. "The way I left wasn’t great. I thought I was doing what was right for me and my family. Some things were out of my character and I do regret the way I left."

Jackman had spent two years with the Gills between 2005 and 2007 and then opted to switch to Northampton when his contract expired at Priestfield.

During that stint he turned in a man-of-the-match performance as Mark Stimson’s Gills were demolished 4-0 at the Sixfields Stadium. It prompted Stimson into signing the former Aston Villa trainee a year-and-a-half later.

It was a messy transfer, however. Northampton didn’t want to sell but Jackman was lured by the prospect of playing for Stimson’s League 1 team and eventually he got the move he wanted.

"Since coming back to Gillingham my time has been pretty frustrating," he added. "I had injuries in the first season and injuries and not playing in the second. You look back and think was it the right decision?"

This season, however, he is being touted as a player-of-the-year contender and said: "It is nice to be linked to something like that and means you are doing something right, but ultimately you want to be challenging for honours."