Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth wants supporters to see differences in his team this season after making 11 summer signings

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth wants his team to have a new identity this season.

It’s a fresh start at Priestfield for Ainsworth, who has signed 11 new players to reshape the squad for his style of play.

“I want an identity,” said Ainsworth. “I want people to go, ‘Gillingham, they are this’. I don't want to give it away because I don't want to tell them what we're trying to be.

“(I want people to know) If you go to Gillingham, they do this, they do that. I want every club to go, ‘wow, that's going to be a tough game because they do this’.

“The boys know what it is and I know what it is, and we're working on it. But your best teams have got identities and you know what they’re going to do.

“Maybe they’re going to play you off the park, they're going to run you into the ground, they're going to be physical, they're going to drop off and survive and then counter-attack - all these little styles, you could pin it on quite a few clubs.

“I want us to have an identity. I definitely want to feel like that's my team out there and that's what I know I'm going to get.”

After a disappointing Carabao Cup exit to Luton last weekend, Ainsworth is excited for the league programme to get under way.

Gillingham start the campaign at home to Walsall in League 2 this Saturday.

“I'm hoping you'll see the proper us this Saturday,” he said. “I'm excited and looking forward to it.

“It's the league campaign. I've said, ‘judge me on this.’ This is the plan now and I want to see performances.

“I want to see a different Gillingham team that you haven't seen for a few years.

“We inherited a lot of players, and you can change styles slightly, but you can't change personal attributes. You can't make someone quicker. You can't make someone