Ryan Huckle is loving the physical challenge that life on loan is providing him.

The 19-year-old centre-half is one of three young Gillingham pros currently on loan at Bostik South East side Faversham.

The Lilywhites look to be seeing the back of any relegation fears and Huckle has been in the thick of it since joining in early December.

He said: “It is nice to get some first-team football and to be playing for something.

“It is really competitive, as it is at Gillingham, but it is based on physicality more than anything and if you can bully your opponent you are more likely to come out on top, even if they are more technically better.

“Technicality is a big part but physicality is huge. The physical side is my style of play, I don’t mind doing a bit of that. It is what I thrive on and it has been good.”

Huckle stands well over six feet and doesn’t mind a battle.

“Sometimes you come up against a nippy player but it is nice to have a challenge against the big, physical ones,” he said.

“Last week we were up against Haywards Heath. They had a striker about 6ft 7in and built massively, he was huge! It was one of those where if you are going to challenge for a header you have to think what is the best thing to do? He wasn’t very good, technically, so I got tight and let him do what he wanted and he gave it away himself.

“When you are playing first team games at that level you have to learn how to manage games and different people. It has been a good learning experience.”

Ben Chapman and Danny Divine are also on loan with the Salters Lane club, playing alongside former Gillingham youngsters Ashley Miller, Michael Freiter and Danny Walder.

Miller scored the winner against Whyteleafe on Saturday as Faversham picked up a clean sheet and a valuable three points to help their push clear of the relegation dogfight.

They play away to Sittingbourne this Saturday, the team Huckle made his Faversham debut against in early December.

He was named man-of-the-match that day in front of a crowd of 300.

“I really enjoyed that,” he said. “We never play in front of a crowd with the under-23s and those people are going out to watch and they are paying. They want you to win.

“There have been some good days and we have turned the results around a bit.”

A host of Gillingham players are currently out on loan and weekend opponents Sittingbourne are likely to include exciting youth prospect Roman Campbell up front. It will be Huckle’s job to stop him.

The first-year professional, who has been with the Gills since the under-14s, believe going out on loan is a vital part of the learning process.

Prior to joining Faversham he spent a month with Dover, who at the time were in a transition period, bringing in Andy Hessenthaler to replace Chris Kinnear.

With the club battling the drop in the National League, it was the wrong time for him to be there.

He said: “It was probably the hardest time to go because Hessy had just gone there and he was under pressure to get results.

“Throwing in an 18-year-old centre-back might have been a risk but it was still a good experience to train with them and go on the bench.

“Going out on loan and getting experience of playing at senior level is so important and a lot of people overlook it. It is a really big thing to be able to do.

“I have enjoyed this year, much more since going on loan, because I like playing games and keeping clean sheets.”