Gillingham captain Armani Little has called for unity ahead of a weekend game that’s now become bigger than anybody had hoped it would be.
The Gills host Morecambe on Saturday with a clear objective. They need a win to keep clear of the relegation dogfight at the bottom of League 2.
Morecambe occupy the second of two places in the relegation zone and the Gills are currently nine points clear – a gap they won’t want to get any smaller.
Little said: “We can’t make it any clearer. It’s a must-win game because we don’t want to be dragged into that.
“Everyone’s just got to bring their A-game on Saturday, even the fans. We’ve got to be together as one and just really go for the game.
“I think when you’re on these runs of form, the luck tends to go against you. We have to change that. Whether it’s mentality as a club, everyone. Players, fans, coaches, everyone. We’ve got to be in this together.
“It’s only us that can change it on the pitch but we need the full backing. I know it’s going to be tough and easy to say that, because of the run we’re on, but we still have to keep going. We’ve still got a lot of games to play in the season.
“We need everyone behind us. It’s got to be like a fresh start. I don’t want to say a fresh start, but come with a positive mentality. We will. Let’s get the three points.”
League 2 table
The Gillingham team were booed off again at Priestfield on Tuesday night after a 2-1 loss to Fleetwood – something that’s happened frequently this season as the struggles have continued.
Gillingham went a goal up against Fleetwood but the lead didn’t last long. They retreated after taking the lead and were quickly punished. The visitors scored a second shortly after the restart to lead 2-1.
The Gills had chances to level but couldn’t find the net again.
“I think the first half we completely dominated the game,” Little said.
“We played really well, created a few chances, got the goal and went 1-0 up and then we were a bit sloppy for the last five minutes of the half.
“They got back into the game. We’ve gone in 1-1 when really the game could have been dead and buried.
“We came out second half and they scored straight away.
“We didn’t go into our shells. We’ve reacted really well. We still created chances. We had one off the line, hit the crossbar. I still think there’s a lot of positives. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good enough. We’ve still lost at home, again. We just have to keep going, that’s all we can do.”
It was Gillingham’s 15th defeat of the season.
Little feels there have been plenty of matches where they have deserved more.
He said: “You go back to the games like Grimsby away. They scored right at the death. We should have easily had three points there.
“Crewe at home the other day. We should have really had [the three points]. Walsall away, we went there, took the game to them, gave it a real go.
“I even think Saturday (a 0-0 at Carlisle) we had a lot of chances and although they had chances, that was from us probably going for the game. It did make us a bit more open.
“It’s not like we were sitting back and they were coming on to us with a lot of pressure. We just have to keep going now. That’s all we can do, stick together as a group, because that’s the most important thing.”
