Defender Will Wright is enjoying the buzz around Gillingham but doesn’t want to be a bystander.

Wright made 46 appearances for the Gills last season but many of those in the second half of the campaign came from the bench - with just two starts from the final 20 games.

The Gills are looking for another centre-half and have good options at right-back. Wright knows he has to perform to his best to break into that starting XI from August.

He said: “You look at how we finished the back end of last season, the team hasn’t changed too much from then, there’s new boys coming in, even someone like myself even though I was there all season, I’m still trying to get myself back into that team which did so well.

“I want to be part of something, which when you look in does seem to be big and growing, I want to jump onboard as quick as I can.

“I am here and a contracted player but I want to be playing and it is down to me to get in the side and hopefully give myself a good run and enjoy the ride we’re going to go on.”

Wright, 26, joined the Gills last summer after he’d spent the previous three years with Dagenham.

He came on in the second half against Millwall on Saturday and is expected to get more minutes on Tuesday night when the Gills host Charlton Athletic.

“It was another good exercise for us,” said the defender, following Saturday’s 2-0 home loss.

“No disrespect to Como (who Gills played on Wednesday) but we were probably playing a tougher opponent in Millwall, Championship level.

“There were probably two mistakes that gifted them goals really so when you take them away there’s not really much in the game. Overall it wasn’t too displeasing.

That game on Saturday came days after their match in Como, playing in hot conditions against Serie B opposition. It was an enjoyable experience for the young defender.

“It was great,” he said. “It was my first pre-season abroad as a senior pro, it was nice to get away.

“We got exactly what we needed out of it, the boys got 45 minutes each, a tough training day on the Tuesday and we put on an alright display considering we aren’t used to that sort of weather.

“We then got to have a meal together, enjoyed ourselves a bit in the evening, we got everything we needed out of the week.”

The Gills players also got to mix with the fans during their week away.

Wright feels it’s important there is unity throughout the club if they want to succeed this season.

He said: “There is the backroom team and the guys in the kitchen, for us they are unsung heroes really, we see them regularly, bringing them in as a team, not just the players, the staff and the fans as well.

“You need to be as one to get to your end goal because there are 15 or so teams chasing those top seven spaces, it is going to be the strongest unit that will get themselves in there and get to the desired destination.”