Gillingham boss Neil Harris wants to bring in centre-back before transfer window closes

Gillingham manager Neil Harris wants to bring in at least a centre-back before the transfer window closes.

It’s taking Harris’ new-look team time to adapt and they lost 2-0 on Tuesday at home to Harrogate in League 2.

But Gillingham now have two more matches at Priestfield to plan for, taking on Walsall this Saturday in the league and then facing League 1 Exeter next Tuesday in the Carabao Cup Second Round.

“The window shuts in two weeks so, if we are going to do any more business, we will have to do it quickly,” said Harris.

“The problem is attracting the players. To get the right players, we have had to be patient. We have moved heaven and earth to get 14 or 15 in so far.

“We need to get at least one more in.

"I can’t put a time-scale on it, obviously, but the sooner the better for me as a manager. I need a centre-half.”

Further up the field, Gillingham have signed winger Hakeeb Adelakun who joined on a season-long loan from League 1 Lincoln on Monday, and made his debut against Harrogate.

“He’s a player we have chased for a long time,” Harris explained. “He has ball-playing ability, he has individualism that makes him creative and we saw his spark on Tuesday.

“He can handle the football. He’s a player that needed to get out to play regular football. He’s local-ish so it ticks a box in the sense that he wants to be near family.

“We wanted to bring him in to give us a spark at the top-end of the pitch.

“At the top-end of the pitch, we have a little bit more. We need to gel, that’s clear.

“Jordan [Green], Mika [Mandron] and Scott [Kashket] are all off the mark this season goals-wise but we just need to be a little more reliable in that area and share the goals around.

“You can’t be chasing the game all the time, you need