Former Premiership player happy to remain at Priestfield
Craig Fagan says he is enjoying his time at the club and is interested in extending his stay at MEMS Priestfield Stadium.
The former Premiership forward has a contract until mid-January, but after returning to the starting line-up against Walsall following a thigh injury, he is keen to make up for lost time and perhaps negotiate a deal which would enable him to remain at the club.
Speaking after Sunday’s game he said: “I’ve enjoyed it; everyone is really friendly around the place. I’m 30 now and I’ve been to a few clubs and its one of the friendliest I’ve been to.
“Not just the playing staff but people around the ground, everybody is polite and they want to say hello which is refreshing.
“I knew the Manager from before but I enjoy playing with the lads here.
“I came here from when the Manager was here at the start so I know the ideas he is trying to get across and slowly I can see the lads are picking up the way he wants to play and week by week it’s getting better.
“I’m signed until January 14, I haven’t really given it any thought and I haven’t spoken to anybody.
I’m just enjoying playing, I had a setback when I pulled my thigh but that was through not playing at the start of the season – it was just one of those things so I just want to get myself back in the team and show what I was before I did get injured.
“I don’t see why I would want to move, but that’s if the club wants me.”
Prior to joining the Gills Craig was out of contract, and he revealed how difficult it can be to stay fit and focused when not playing or training regularly.
He added: “With the amount of people out of contract it’s ridiculous; there are Premier League players without clubs. The problem is the clubs in the past could have squads of 40 or 50 people but now only a certain amount can play in that season.
“It gets harder every year, that’s not just for myself that’s for everyone. Even players that have clubs, if they are coming to the end of their contract this season some of them will have a rude awakening as its not as easy out there as what they think.
“It’s tough but that’s the world you live in, you have to get your head down. You have to be doing the best you can.”
Fagan returned to action against the Saddlers and was substituted prior to the action at the end which saw Cody McDonald grab an equaliser when Julian Gray though he had secured all three points for the visitors.
He said the team deserved a draw because of their fighting spirit and is convinced Gills will begin to climb the league table.
He said: “Coming out and getting the goal early in the second half like we did, conceding and then getting another one was disappointing but Cody did well to carry on playing even though it was a foul, to score the goal and get us back in the game.
“It was disappointing to concede again, we worked hard to get the draw up to that point but the lads dug deep and they never give in. They work hard on the pitch, luckily it went our way and Cody put the ball in the back of the net.
“We had a couple of chances where we hit the bar, Keds had a header, Whelps went for a volley and it hit the keeper and it came back out I think.
“Other times in the season they go in, but things like that aren’t happening for us but we just need to keep going and keep working hard.
“There is a good togetherness around the place and we managed to get that goal.