James Brophy is looking forward to the competitive action beginning this weekend as Gillingham host Luton Town in the Carabao Cup on Saturday.
The winger knows that Luton will provide a difficult test, but he hopes that Saturday's fixture at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium can serve as a marker for where the team is at.
Brophy discussed the importance of building strong foundations at home, knowing how crucial it will be to the team's success throughout the year.
The 32-year-old believes that there is a good blend of experience and youth within the squad, and knows that it will only serve the group well, as they look to learn from each other as the season develops.
Facing Luton Town on Saturday...
I think that we know that they will be pushing at the top end of the league above, so it is definitely a good tool for us to use, or a good marker to see where we're at. Albeit they're a league above, but we expect ourselves to impose ourselves against them and to make it a competitive game.
We're not there just to make up the numbers - we're there to win.
I'm really excited. I think that we have a good squad and I think that we have played well for most of pre-season. We have got a good understanding of what the manager wants and how he wants us to play, so I think that Saturday is a good marker for us to show our understanding, show our competitiveness and hopefully get through the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Playing at home for the first time, and the importance of building strong foundations at ME7...
I'm really looking forward to it. In order for us to be successful, we need to perform well at home. In order to do well at home, I do think that you need to make a strong foundation and a strong base. You do need to intimidate other teams that come. You don't want a team wanting to come to a game here.
We need to first find some good performances and results for the fans to buy into this, and then, hopefully, they will get behind us and help us overcome the opponents and make this a really difficult place for teams to come and get a result.
The blend of youth and experience in the squad...
I think that we have a nice balance at the moment. I think that with experience or inexperience, young and old, you can all learn from each other. As the experienced boys, it's up to us to help guide the younger players to excel to the best of their abilities.
It's also good for us to learn from them. Every day is a learning day for us, and we want to be better every day. I think that we have got a really nice balance at the moment; people that want to buy into each other and help get each other better. If we all do that throughout the season, then it only looks up.
