Peter Taylor was delighted to move another point closer to mathematical safety.

And the Gills boss admits it would now take something extraordinary for those teams below to catch them.

“We would have to be extremely unlucky to go down now,” Taylor said.

“But we will keep working at it. We showed a good attitude and hopefully we can show a good attitude against Preston on Saturday.

“On the strength of Friday’s result (2-0 win over Tranmere) that has put smiles on all of our faces, because we felt that 51 would be enough, and now we are on 52. That is really good. It has been a good day for us.”

A 1-1 draw at Walsall came thanks to Cody McDonald’s 82 minute strike.

“I am delighted that we have got a very good away point against a good team,” said the Gills boss.

“Walsall play some terrific football but I thought we kept going. In the first half we didn’t show enough confidence on the ball. We gave it away cheaply and then we had to defend too much. Second half, we tried to get hold of it a bit more."

The Gills were behind early in the second half before pulling level.

“Of course, goals change everything. I thought it was a fantastic goal from Cody, a great little partnership with Bayo. We are well pleased.”

McDonald picked up a pass from Akinfenwa before applying a cool finish.

Taylor said: “He took it really early, he took it with his left foot and it was nice and confident. He has scored some very important goals for us this year.

“I have to say, that’s as good a finish as I have seen from him.”