Gillingham manager Mark Stimson will be hoping his defenders have learned their lessons after a difficult week on the road.

The Gills have conceded six goals in their last two League 1 outings and Stimson will be keen to get things back on track when they entertain Hartlepool tomorrow (Saturday).

"It’s disappointing because you can’t give teams goals, especially at this level," said Stimson (pictured).

"At Tranmere (last Saturday) we gave four chances away and last year if we did that we would probably have only conceded two goals.

"At the level we are at now, teams punish you and that showed with the Lisbie goal (on Tuesday at Colchester)."

Stimson’s defensive options remain limited and he admits finding replacements is not proving an easy task.

His central defensive cover is limited to Garry Richards, on-loan Josh Gowling who is carrying a knee injury, rookie Tom Wynter and makeshift defender Mark Bentley.

"We have to stick with it and hopefully they can play together and get better," said Stimson.

"We would love to have Simon King back or another centre-half who I think could come in and do a job but they aren’t available."

Stimson has been looking at bringing in an up-and-coming Premiership player to the club but admits what’s on offer is no better than what he has.

"We keep asking the questions but all we get back is young kids who have never played in league football," he said.

"We’ve looked at a couple of young centre-halves but we can’t see them being much better than Tom Wynter."

Gillingham are currently in talks with Gowling’s representatives about extending his loan deal from Carlisle which ends after Saturday’s game.

Stimson’s attacking options are looking brighter and he could bring winger Dennis Oli (injured knee) back into the squad at the weekend.