Bradley Dack drops Gareth Ainsworth claim that should excite Gillingham FC supporters | OneFootball

The Gills star has been speaking on the club's ambitions for next season, as well as waxing lyrical over the appointment of Gareth Ainsworth.

Bradley Dack has waxed lyrical over Gareth Ainsworth's impact since his appointment as Gillingham manager, and believes the team has "unfinished business" in League Two next season.

The 31-year-old Dack joined the Gills on a free transfer last summer, and went on to make 20 appearances in all competitions last season.

Having now penned a new one-year contract to keep him at Priestfields until the summer of 2026, the experienced attacking midfielder his looking forward to what is hoped will be a successful campaign in League Two next season.

Bradley Dack raves over Gareth Ainsworth's impact as Gillingham boss

Appointed as Gillingham boss on 25 March, Ainsworth certainly made an instant impact on his new team.

The 52-year-old took charge of the club's final nine games of the 2024/25 season, in a spell that saw them go unbeaten between his arrival and the end of the campaign, winning three and drawing six of those final nine fixtures.

As a result, the former Shrewsbury Town boss looks to be the right man to lead Gillingham into a brighter 2025/26 campaign, and Dack certainly appears to agree with that sentiment.

Speaking in a recent interview via KentOnline, the Gills star said of Ainsworth: "We had a great end to the season. I think it was 12 unbeaten to finish and the manager and Dobbo (Richard Dobson) have come in and they've been first class. Their mentality, the way they drive standards has been really, really good and nice for me to see.

"They're taking the club in a great direction and I wanted to be part of that. I've loved working with them. I like the group of players that we have. I think it's a real hard-working group.

"It's become a really enjoyable place to go and work. I think that's so important in football," Dack continued. "Every successful team that I've been involved in, the work environment has been first class and that's the feeling I get with this one as well.

"He says to the players that he wants us to enjoy the game and he wants us to fight for every ball and fight for everything on the pitch. If we can give him that he'll always back us.

"I think everyone’s bought into that and you could see with the games that he took charge of at the end of the season that everyone gave everything. I know some people will think that that is a given, but there's a lot of football teams and football players where they don't buy into it. The team doesn't become successful. It's just how it works.

"Everyone has to buy into what a manager wants and the players that we have in that dressing room have definitely done that."

Bradley Dack sends Gillingham rallying call for 2025/26 season

Gillingham is where Dack took his first steps into professional football, having graduated from the club's academy system and into the first-team all the way back in 2012.

Despite a brief spell on loan with Braintree Town in the winter of 2013, Dack would then spend the next five years as key member of Gillingham's senior side, in which he enjoyed four seasons with the club playing at League One level between 2013/14-16/17.

It's that division which he hopes he can help the Gills return to once again next term. Speaking in the same interview with KentOnline, Dack said: "Why I wanted to come here last year was to get promoted, and we didn't achieve that. That feels like unfinished business to me, and that's what I want to be here to do.

"There's going to be a bit of pressure on us just because of the manager, the players we have, the budget, everything comes into it. Gillingham shouldn't be in this league, but we are, and we have to find a way to get out of it. That's what we've got to focus on."

Discussing his individual goals for 2025/26, he said: "I think a pre-season will do me brilliant to get my body robust and ready to play a lot of league games next year. That's my aim and I know I can help this team. I know I can affect the game at this level.

“I think I proved that towards the end of the season when I started finding my form and playing games. (I feel) really good. I've been working hard in the gym this off-season, trying to get the muscles stronger and then using pre-season to really build up that fitness level. It's making sure my body is strong.

"Everything feels good, touch wood. The pre-season is only going to help to build my body and fitness and robustness. I think I started feeling good probably six weeks out from the end of the season, so it was probably the wrong time for the end of the season to come for me personally.

"I want to affect the games. I want to be the best player. I want to get this team to where it deserves to be and hopefully we can all do that together."