Manager Gareth Ainsworth says he has to offload players not up to the task of improving Gillingham’s fortunes this summer

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth is ready to make some big changes in the summer after losing faith in many of his current players.

A run of four straight defeats has been an eye-opener for the manager, who is rarely critical of his players. But he has had to concede that some just aren’t good enough for him.

Ainsworth is a year into the job and coming towards the end of his first full season in charge. He’s hoping that he can get the type of players he wants this summer and that there will be better times ahead.

He said: “There are going to be some changes - there’s a lot of contracts up and I have to make changes.

“You play the cards you’ve got in your hand, and we played them really well at the start of the season, probably got away with a couple of wins. I’m glad we did because it gives us a cushion because the form has been relegation form since January, it’s been really bad form.

“The whole place just needs a change.

“There’s no bad people here, nobody means to do anything wrong, I think it just needs a change. A big change and I don’t want to call anyone out in a bad way, but some players are just not good enough, and I’ve got to change it.”

Ainsworth has assured fans - and the owners - that things will improve next season. It has to.

Not everyone has faith in a two-year plan, or Ainsworth, but the manager is convinced that if he is given the time to make the changes he wants, then things will improve.

He said: “You can’t not have faith in a two-year plan after one year. The two-year plan was for a reason, because we needed two years.

“I’m not saying by the way we’re going to win the league next year, but I always said at the start when I came in, we’ll be a different team, we’ll be a lot better than we are now