Gillingham sit top of the table after three games but manager Mark Bonner insists it doesn’t mean anything to him.
The Gills remain unbeaten in League 2 after a goalless draw at Fleetwood Town on Saturday. With seven points from three games, they are above Bradford on goal difference.
“It doesn’t mean anything to me,” stated Bonner. “It’s nice for supporters to see it but it’s a complete irrelevance.
“They shouldn’t even publish tables after three games, we know how much we’ve got to do to keep improving.
“We know how much there is still to come from the team and we’re really satisfied to take the results that we have but we’re also never satisfied as we think there’s miles more to come from us.
“I am proud of the effort of the lads, the way they’re digging in. You’ve got to grind out results, this is another really tough one, but there’s loads of areas we can get better in and that’s the bit I’m more excited about really.”
It’s a second successive clean sheet for Bonner’s men, however, from another long trip to the north west.
The Gills boss has been at pains to point out how big an impact the fixture list has had in the opening weeks of the campaign.
“The big picture is to take four points from those two away games, regardless of how difficult it was, to do that is incredible,” added Bonner.
“You can see how physically taxing the last two weeks have been for the boys, but they’ve ground out and stuck with it, got through some tough moments in the game and we’re really happy to take it.
“If you’d have said before these couple of weeks and threw the Swansea game in as well, it was an absolute beast to have those three games in quick succession and it’s taken its toll.
“We know we’re a little bit light with players at the moment because we’re waiting for a few to come back but we’ll get better because we need to.
“The level of the top teams is high and we might be sitting at the top of the league at the moment and we might be fancied by lots but I think there’s a long way for us to be a match for those top ones at the moment.
“Some of the players have to raise their level quickly as we’ve got to be a better team with the ball and not be so reliant on counter attacks.
Report: Fleetwood 0-0 Gillingham
“I’m also caveating that with the difficulty of the last few weeks, the physical toll that’s taken and we’ve played two teams that were in League 1 last year in our first three games.
“They might have had a tough game last year but they’re a long way ahead of us in the cycle and the level they were at.
“It’s good for us to take something from the game and we’ll be very happy on the bus despite the lads being absolutely shattered.”
