Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth says any more signings may not arrive until transfer deadline day

Manager Gareth Ainsworth says Gillingham may need to be patient to bring in more new faces.

The summer transfer window closes on September 1 with Ainsworth keen to add to his 11 new faces.

The Gills have been working hard to identify potential signings since the departure of defender Sam Gale to League 1 Barnsley just a week before the new season.

“It probably will go to the end of the window,” conceded Ainsworth this week. “It usually does in League 2.

“We're looking at both (loan or permanent), loans from Premier League. We've got some permanents definitely on the horizon as well.

“We're not just waving our finger in the air any more, we are actually properly targeting people.”

Gale continues to impress at Barnsley and while Ainsworth has regularly stated he needs a replacement, he suggested it might not be a straightforward like for like.

“Sam's done brilliant and the reports are good with what he's done at Barnsley,” added the Gills boss. “I'm really pleased that he's kicking on now.

“But we have to find the next Sam Gale, or is there a Sam Gale in the building and we have to find elsewhere to plug a gap?

“It won't be a like for like, but it'll be another body in the building because we probably do need that.

“We're identifying that one now. Recruitment's been good here, we're data, character and footage driven now, it's not just word of mouth or something like that.

“It's some real techniques going into this now and we'll make sure we get the right one.

“We've got some cracking names. It's just getting near them. Some of them, you just don't get anywhere near as they don't even let you present to them because they're not coming here because they want to go higher and that's fair enough.

“But one day they'll all want