Gillingham defender Alex Lacey is eager to put a frustrating first season at the club behind him.

Lacey signed for the Gills last summer, agreeing a two-year deal, but his first season was scuppered by injury, limiting the 25-year-old to just 13 appearances.

“It has been a frustrating season for me personally,” he said.

“It was quite stop-start, I had a few injuries here and there and it was tough to come back after those.”

Lacey suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury and once he got fit, towards the end of the season, he was unable to get back into the side.

“Getting the same injury again was a big setback,” he said.

“But I have really enjoyed being here, with a great bunch of lads and staff. I am just really looking forward to next season.

“It's a fresh start for me next season and hopefully I will be able to give it a good go.”

Lacey was Yeovil Town’s player-of-the-season for 2016/17 but rejected the chance to extend his stay there and instead moved to the Gills, then under Ady Pennock.

But his time in Kent started badly after an injury in pre-season limited him to just 45 minutes of summer action. He started nine league games in a row under Pennock but the injuries came back to haunt him for the remainder of the campaign.

He said: “Having watched from the sides this season it has been frustrating because you want to be out there playing yourself, that definitely adds motivation to really kick on and come back next season to hopefully play more. I'm just looking forward to it now.

“We are looking forward to starting back. I'll come back with a clean bill of health, start afresh and look to make a claim for a place in the starting 11.”