Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence on keeping players happy as new faces join in the January window

Keeping everyone happy at Gillingham is getting harder admits the head coach.

Josh Walker arrived on loan at Gillingham on Thursday as the second new recruit of the January transfer window, coming a week after Remeao Hutton signed on a permanent deal.

With the luxury of a fully-fit squad, Gills’ head coach Stephen Clemence now has a handful of senior players who can’t get into the matchday squad.

Hutton’s arrival saw fellow right-back Cheye Alexander left out last weekend while forward Jayden Clarke was also missing and may find it even harder to get a game following Walker’s arrival.

Clemence - who now has a senior squad of 23 - has also said they are still hopeful of doing more business in the remaining week of the transfer window.

Lewis Walker has recently joined Woking as he couldn’t break into the first-team.

Others with little action of late include Robbie McKenzie, Max Clark and Shaun Williams. The latter - Gillingham’s club captain - hasn’t played a league game under Clemence but at 37 he might not feel a move away will be of any benefit.

For the younger players, however, they may be looking at their options.

Clemence said: “If players come in, generally you do see players move out in a different direction and that is to balance books sometimes but also it is being fair to them and their careers to make sure they are getting playing time because there are obviously some players who aren’t featuring on the bench.

“It is very difficult to pick a substitutes’ bench never mind the starting line-up.

“You never want to have loads and loads of players because it becomes difficult to train them. You generally want 20 outfield players plus the goalkeepers so that you can work on shape etcetera. If you start going over