Gillingham took a giant stride towards securing promotion thanks to victory over Rotherham on Monday.

Deon Burton (pictured) opened the scoring against his former club midway through the first half.

Chris Whelpdale and Danny Kedwell both hit the bar for the Gills, either side of the break, but the one goal was enough.

Gills boss Martin Allen made two changes to his starting eleven as former Rotherham striker Burton came in for Adam Birchall upfront and Callum Davies was replaced in the defensive midfield role by Steven Gregory.

On the bench young defender Devante McKain came into the matchday squad for only the second time this season, replacing fellow development squad player Josh Hare.

Burton had scored both goals in the 2-1 win that Gillingham enjoyed in Rotherham back in December and he was in the right place at the right time to put his side ahead in Monday’s game.

A throw from Whelpdale was flicked on by Kedwell and Burton nodded home from close-range for his 12 goal of the season.

Prior to that the closest the Gills came was from a couple of Adam Barrett efforts, both which went wide.

Rotherham’s Daniel Nardiello had dragged a shot wide early on in the half but it was a 45 minutes that Gillingham will have been very happy with and they could have been further infront.

Chris Whelpdale rattled the bar with a vicious 25 yard strike, Anton Robinson saw his low drive saved by keeper Scott Shearer and Joe Martin came close with a long-range effort of his own.

But it needed a timely intervention from Martin to ensure Rotherham didn’t level things up in first half stoppage time, as Craig Morgan’s flick from a free-kick looked to be heading past Gills keeper Stuart Nelson.

Rotherham made a double substitution at the break but the second half started with the Gills pinning the visitors back, with Whelpdale in particular causing problems for the defenders.

A shot just before the hour mark from Burton had Shearer sprawling to his right to make the save but Rotherham broke straight after and Nelson had to come off his line to whip the ball off the feet of Nardiello.

The Gills withstood a spell of Rotherham pressure, after they had brought on another striker, but could have gone two up only for Kedwell’s shot to cannon back off the bar. The 14-goal leading scorer came close moments later but Shearer tipped his header wide at full stretch.

At the other end Nelson produced a stunning stop, with a flying save to tip Michael O’Connor’s long-range shot wide after 83 minutes.

Gillingham: Nelson, Fish, Martin, Legge, Barrett, Gregory, Whelpdale, Robinson (Weston 78mins), Allen, Burton, Kedwell . Subs not used: Forecast, McKain, Muggleton, East, Davies, Birchall.

Rotherham: Shearer, Davis, Arnason, Mullins, Ainsworth (Pringle 46mins), Revell, Nardiello (Odejayi 61mins), Noble (O’Connor 46mins), Morgan, Kearns, Skarz. Subs not used: Warrington, Frecklington, Agard, Ridehalgh.

Attendance: 6,796