Andy Hessenthaler leads the Gills into battle at Priestfield this Saturday for the first time since 2004 and the new Manager admits he can't wait to get the season underway, "I'm excited and a little bit apprehensive at the same time, but I think most managers are, once you've gone through pre-season.
"Pre-season is about getting minutes on the pitch and getting your fitness levels up, the games are competitive but there is nothing at stake. Now, this is the real stuff and there are points at stake, so I can't really wait for 3 o'clock to come.
"It's nice to be at home and we need to hit the ground running, and you'll see that from the tempo that the players play. I know the fans, and everyone connected to the club, will be right behind the players as we all want to succeed again and bounce back.
"We don't need any motivation as far as I'm concerned. We know what we need to do, go out there and work our socks off. At the same time we also have the ability to pass the ball so we should have a good afternoon."
With eight new faces arriving this summer to complement the existing squad at Priestfield, Hessenthaler has a wealth of strength in depth but reveals he will be pushed to the limit by injuries for this weekend's fixture.
Hessy confirmed, "It would be nice to be able to pick from everybody, but, unfortunately, Barry Fuller is out, Dennis Oli is out, Cody McDonald is out, young Andy White is out and Garry Richards is still not ready yet so there are a few missing.
"I'd like to think that Cody would be available for the Hereford game, he's not had a lot of minutes on the pitch but he is quite a fit boy so hopefully he'll play some part. Garry is going to be a couple of weeks but Barry is progressing nicely.
"He (Fuller) hasn't really tested the knee though so he will probably be another couple of weeks too. Andy White won't be too long and Dennis is only two weeks away so by the end of the month we could have the full quota back."
In addition to the five absentees, Hessy has three more injury doubts but is confident that the trio will be available for selection, "Jack (Payne) has hurt his neck, Danny (Spiller) has a slight groin injury which we have had to monitor and Curtis (Weston) has an issue with his ankle but they are training today so I'm confident the boys will come through and be available for the weekend.
There is better news on the progress of summer signing Adebayo Akinfenwa who gained valuable match fitness in Tuesday night's friendly with Faversham Town, according to Hessenthaler, "Bayo is a couple of weeks away, he's not ready to start but it's nice to have that option for him to come off the bench if the game is tight.
"Bayo's getting fitter and stronger and he's a great player to have on the bench, he can handle it now but we don't want to rush him back and have him pick up an injury."
Finally, Hessenthaler completed his summer spending today with the capture of former Ajax midfielder Stanley Aborah, who has been on trial at Priestfield since mid-July. Aborah put pen to paper on an initial one-month deal this afternoon and the Gills Gaffer believes he could have a role to play against Cheltenham.
"Someone like Stanley can give us that little bit of quality with his vision and passing. Cheltenham may come and try to frustrate us on Saturday and we need to overcome that, so he might be able to come on and unlock them with his quality.
"The kid hasn't played a really competitive game in 18 months so he's relying on fitness but we like what we've seen, he's a bit special. Hopefully we'll get his international clearance done in time and he can be involved on Saturday."
