Sam Gale was happy to get more minutes in the tank after Gillingham’s 0-0 draw with Reading at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Saturday.
The academy graduate played during the second half alongside the likes of Harry Waldock, Harry Bridle and Harry Webster and was impressed with their performances.
Following a hectic end to the previous campaign, Gale is relishing the chance to have extended time on the training pitch ahead of the new season.
Discussing the game…
It was a good performance. I think that the boys in the first half showed that we as a squad can go toe-to-toe with a top League One team. I think that from talking to people, Reading have high aspirations.
In the second half, we were slightly younger and slightly less experienced, but they didn’t hurt us at all. Maybe we could have shown a bit more intent to go forward, but naturally, it is going to look slightly disjointed in these early days of pre-season.
There’s a lot to build on, but mainly it’s just fitness at this point.
On Harry Waldock, Bridle and Webster…
The three Harrys (Waldock, Bridle and Webster) are two years, and Harry Bridle is one year younger than me. When I was finishing off youth team football, they were coming to the forefront of it, so I have seen them for a few years now. I think that they have shown in both games what they can do.
I think today they had a lot to do out of possession, but they showed that they are mature enough to be put in these situations and be trusted.
It’s a big gap from that 18 to 20 age. I think that I felt it when I was first 18, playing against Millwall two years ago out there. I thought that it was a bit too quick for me. The Gaffer said to them at full-time that they have shown what they can do, and it is up to the fans and everyone around them to keep helping them develop and to stick with them because they will be big players for this Football Club.
The benefits of having extended time on the training pitch…
It’s been really good. Last season, the schedule towards the end of the season was hectic. I think that we probably had less than five proper training sessions where we went on the grass and worked on stuff, so to be able to have that extended time in pre-season to work with them [the management] and have them get their ideas across, and what they expect and how they want the team to line up.
It has been brilliant, and I think that you can start to see that we are going to be a tough team to break down. We are going to have a lot of pace and power in forward areas and we are going to be an aggressive front-foot team.
