Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth hopes the club’s decision to keep their players in-house for Premier League under-21 cup games helps them develop better

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth hopes their new youth policy will help produce the stars of the future.

The Gills have entered a team into the Premier League under-21 cup this season - the first of six group games taking place at Huddersfield Town.

Matches against young teams from Birmingham City and Swansea City will follow, facing each side home and away between now and the end of the calendar year.

Gillingham’s decision to involve their best young players in the cup competition replaces the need to send them out on loan around Kent’s non-league sides, something Ainsworth is all for.

Explaining the club’s thinking, Ainsworth said: “We could send them out on loan but the loan clubs require them to train quite a bit with them so they get in the team and that’s fair enough. I wouldn’t like a loan player just to come on a Saturday and play. He has to train with us.

“[All that] going here, there and everywhere to play. ‘What standard are they playing? Is it 3G?’.

“We can keep them with us for the first half of the season at least because they’re going to get 10 games maybe. That’s a lot of games.

“A lot of teams don’t have that. They’ll get that and they’ll have a sprinkle of first-team sub appearances.

“It’s so good for these youngsters to come through and that’s where you get your Joe Gbodes and your Sam Gales and your Seb Palmer-Houldens, where the youth department of Bristol City can take credit for him being an asset at his age.

“Harry Waldock, who’s had first team experience [with the Gills], knows what it’s about but then can lead the others and say, ‘Look, I’ve experienced this.’ I think it’s a great idea and hopefully we can utilise it really well.”

Gillingham’s first game ended in a 4-1 defeat, but it’s not