Barry’s full-out commitment to the Gills cause cannot be denied but he has had his fair share of bad luck when twice sidelined last season with severe injuries.

He broke his arm during the League One game against Leyton Orient in February and being the inspirational captain that he is, returned to the side playing with a light covering cast. 

Barry then broke his nose  in the game against Leeds inside two minutes of the start and the damage was so bad he was forced to go under the knife missing the final two games of last season.

Barry was also forced to miss the final matches of the League One 2007/08 season with broken fingers.

Dennis Oli, who was missing from the Ebbsfleet match squad, is out for between four to six weeks after suffering a torn hamstring in training and will now also miss the start of the League Two campaign.

Fellow forward and new signing Cody McDonald is also still out of the pre-season training and playing schedule, much to the disappointment of many fans waiting to see Simeon Jackson’s replacement. Cody is expected to play some part in the Gills home friendly against Hearts on Thursday.

Yet another forward and long term injury candidate, Mark McCammon, is out recovering from an operation and has hardly played at all for the Gills first team throughout 2010.

Andy Hess still has problems in defence despite the signing of Tony Sinclair as both Garry Richards (pictured left) and Simon King are in the treatment room.

Garry has been sidelined for the last three months but is expected to return in the next few weeks.

However, missing a great deal of training and the competitiveness of pre-season games, it will take some time before he is ready for full match action.

The continuing saga of Simon King and his year long absence is a real blow to the Gills. Last year’s pre-season friendly at Bromley saw Simon stretchered off with an ankle injury which resulted in him going under the knife last September. A series of setbacks during his rehabilitation has forced Simon to continuously rethink his starting options.

Simon (pictured at the 4-4-2 Club receiving Player of the Year Award) spoke to GillsConnect during the pre-season friendly at Bishops Stortford saying that he hoped to be back playing in November for the Gills at either the Barnet or Oxford game.

This might be wishful thinking as Simon played for both these clubs in the past and it might be an unrealistic target.

He has been seeing a former Premier League physiotherapist who has helped players like Michael Owen, David James and Craig Bellamy but recovery has been slow.

Last week it was suggested that Simon would not be back in full contention until Christmas at the earliest.

Former Ajax youngster and Gills triallist, Stanley Arborah, suffered a hamstring injury and will be out for at least a couple of weeks and finally young midfielder Dean Rance was seen hobbling around on crutches at Ebbsfleet on Saturday and presumably will not be available for selection for some time.