Following his recent appointment as Gillingham Club Captain, experienced midfielder Mark Bentley is clearly relishing his new role: "I've had a few run-outs with the armband on a match day. The Gaffer pulled me aside and told me that he wanted to make me the club captain and I am delighted. It is a great achievement for me and I am very proud to be given the honour of club captain."

So what does the Club Captains job entail "The role means that I am adding a bit of experience to things, Andrew Crofts does a really good job on a matchday and I can be an extra voice for the players as I am one of the experienced players. I also take a role for the younger lads and if they have got a problem, hopefully I can help them out as much as I can.

"If they are a little bit worried about asking the Gaffer something, then I can be the voice for them. I am delighted to be given this opportunity and hopefully I can do a good job. I am also the PFA representative at the club so I have got a bit more on my shoulders but I am delighted about that."

At the end of last season, Bentley featured as a centre-half and he explains that he will play anywhere to be in the starting eleven: "I had a chat about my position with the Gaffer. After the Leeds game, he said that he thought I made an impression at the back and he said there might be an opportunity for me to play at centre-half this season."

"I have thought about it as I still believe that I have the legs and can do a job in midfield but we haven't got much cover at the back so I said that I would do a job there and see how it goes. I'll be playing at the back for the three friendlies this week and we'll assess it from there. I don't mind where I play as long as I am in the starting eleven."

"Every player had their meeting with the Gaffer and like them; I wanted to know if I was going to be a part of his plans for this season. That is down to me and I have been working as hard as I can. The Gaffer has seen that I have got my head down, haven't moaned and done the job. My attitude has always been like that and I've always worked hard and now it is down to me to get the starting shirt now. There are 20-odd players in the squad fighting it out for eleven shirts and I certainly want to be in that starting eleven."

The Gills lost their opening pre-season game 1-0 against Stevenage Borough on Tuesday but Bentley believes the side can take the positives from the game for the forthcoming season: "We're disappointed to lose to Stevenage but it was the first game and the lads looked fit. We moved the ball around well at times, which we want to do a lot more of this year. The pitch is spot-on and as much as it was a defeat, there are positives to take out of the game."

"Everyone was disappointed that we got relegated but rather than mope around, we came back in June and want to show people we are good enough. I've said to people that maybe we needed to drop down as you look at teams like Carlisle and Doncaster; they dropped down and went back up again. Our target is to get that winning momentum again."

"I did the same when I was at Southend. They were second bottom when I joined them but with a few signings and good togetherness, we hit a winning streak. If we can get that winning mentality here, we can get promoted and take this club back to where it belongs."

"A few people might have said that we didn't deserve to go out to La Manga last week as they saw it as a bit of a jolly-up but it has helped massively. The team bonding has been great. To be running flat-out in 37 degrees heat, we were putting it on. There was nobody winning the races though and we were coming in together and everyone was looking strong. The work has to be done in pre-season but now we'll be working a lot more with the footballs. Everyone wants to win, no matter if it's a friendly or a little five-a-side game in training."