Gillingham manager Mark Stimson hopes to secure first team coach Mark Robson on a long term deal this summer.

Robson (pictured above) arrived at Priestfield in August last year, after eight years at Charlton, where he worked with the club’s academy players and went on to become first team coach.

A popular figure among the players, Robson is now out of contract, but Stimson is keen to get him on-board as Gillingham head into League 1 next season.

"I’ll definitely be offering him a new deal," said Stimson.

"I’ve known him a long while and we’ve been brought up with the same morals.

"He is someone I would have loved to have worked with before but when he was at Charlton he was out of our bracket.

"At Grays and Stevenage there was myself, Scott Barrett (assistant) and Danny Ellis (fitness coach) and that was enough but we moved. When we came to Gillingham we had 24-28 players and we needed someone else.

"It had to be the right person and he is someone who I play Masters Football with and we always spoke about one day working together.

"I’ll be offering him a two year deal."

Stimson is also busy trying to add new talent to his promotion-winning squad.

He is due to hold talks with midfielder Kevin Maher this week and he has already spoken to former Brentford midfielder Glenn Poole, a player he managed while at Grays, and tried to sign last season.

"He is someone who would love to come and he’s on one of my lists," said Stimson.