by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham surged back into the play-off reckoning with a crucial win at Priestfield.

Boss Andy Hessenthaler insisted his team remained a promotion contender before Saturday’s 2-0 win over Macclesfield and with results going their way he was proved right.

"We were the only team in the top nine to have won (on Saturday) and like I said after the game on Tuesday, anything can happen in football," said Hessenthaler.

"We are back in with a shout now and the pressure is on other teams as well. They will see our result and we just have to take belief from the game and go to Bristol Rovers (on Friday) and get a win."

The Gills finished the weekend four points outside the play-offs with six games remaining.

"Anything can happen," said Hessenthaler. "You only need a couple of wins and a couple of results to go against other teams and all of a sudden you are back in there.

"We have got a chance and we know what we have to do. We have to go to Bristol and get a result there. It’s not going to be easy but we believe we can go to Bristol and win. Then we play Dagenham here (next) Monday. Again that’s not going to be easy against my old club and my old manager.

"If we show the same belief and keep together and have the faith from the fans then we can achieve this."