Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth says he doesn’t want the season to fizzle out but promotion is already looking like a long shot.
Back-to-back defeats at Crewe and Chesterfield in the space of four days have left the Gills sitting 11 points outside the play-off places and facing the prospect of mid-table mediocrity once again.
Matches against Oldham, Barrow and Fleetwood in their next three fixtures give them the chance to start amassing some points but, with 15 games left, wins are a must.
Commenting on their play-off hopes, Ainsworth said: “It was a dream at one stage. Obviously, we need to pick up now and make sure we don’t end up in just mediocrity, the season fizzling out.
“We never get blown away. We never get hammered. The Bromley game looks bad [losing 4-1], but actually, you look into the game and, wow, we were right in it. Their keeper gets the man-of-the-match.
“The keeper gets man-of-the-match on Saturday against Crewe.
“We’ll pick ourselves up. We go again – 11 points are 11 points. It can change really quickly, this game. I know that. But I’m not about to say, ‘Yeah, we’re definitely going to get in the play-offs’.
“We’ll do our best to finish as high as we can in the league and see where that is.”
Oldham are the visitors to Priestfield this Saturday. They’re two points behind the Gills with a game in hand.
It’s a game the hosts should be looking to win but Ainsworth isn’t putting any pressure on his players.
He said: “There is no pressure here to win games. There is on me, but not on the players.
“I don’t want the players to feel pressure. I think they’ve felt it way too much at Priestfield.
“All I’m going to say to those players is ‘go out there, we’ll give you a framework, give everything’.
“I know I’ve got players good enough in the team to win games, so we’ll go out there with a positive attitude, and it’s just about getting the recoveries, getting the legs going again, and selecting the team that I think will beat Oldham.”
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The Gills then visit Barrow, currently 20th, and host Fleetwood, now 15th.
But Ainsworth said: “We have [games against] teams below us and after 30-odd games, you probably average out and go, okay, they’re around us. They’re below us. They haven’t done as well as us.
“But there are reasons. They might be getting players back from injury. We’ve had some tough times this season as well. I had my break and we had a lot of injuries. It’s not been absolutely plain sailing this year. Other teams will have that.
“We’ve just got to pick up on Saturday and go, you know what? We’re a decent side, and we’re at home. And we love being at home.”
While optimistic fans cling to hope the Gills can do something this year, Ainsworth is confident next season will be better.
He said to fans: “I intend to change this next year. I want to give you something to scream about and shout about.
“This season has been a build on last season. I want to finish higher than we did last season. Where that is, I don’t know.
“We could go on to a superb run, but we need to start winning, and I want that against Oldham on Saturday.”
