GILLINGHAM: BOSS LOVELL INSISTS PLAYERS ARE UNDER PRESSURE AFTER STRENGTHENING SQUAD LAST MONTH

Gillingham’s starters should be feeling the pressure from within. A handful of new signings has bolstered the options for boss Steve Lovell. He’s been reluctant to make changes during Gills’ impressive spell, climbing into the top half of League 1 but they need to keep that form going. Lovell, whose side host Peterborough on Saturday, said: “The boys in the team know they can’t take their foot off the pedal because the boys (not in the team) are itching to get on. “We want the boys itching to go on and stay in the team, so, yes, there might be a bit of pressure on the boys in the team at the moment but so be it. “That’s the nature of the game. You have to put yourself under pressure. They have been great and the boys at the moment in the team deserve to keep going.” New signing Franck Moussa impressed Lovell when coming off the bench in the 2- 0 defeat at leaders Wigan last week. Attacking midfielder Navid Nasseri is desperate to get involved, as is striker Rhys Murphy. Both newcomers are yet to make their first-team debuts. “These boys are still hungry to play,” said Lovell. “They are hungry to prove to themselves that they can play at a certain level and that will help us immensely going forward. “I am looking forward to seeing them playing in League 1 but the boys at the moment are doing a good job. It would take something special to shift some of them. “If the boys in the first team do fall off it a bit, I have to be fair to the other boys and give them a go. “It was important to get bodies in during the window, ones who could come and do a job when asked to do one. “Franck went on at the weekend and I thought he acquitted himself well.”