By Luke Cawdell

Gillingham slipped to 10th place in League 2 at the weekend but manager Andy Hessenthaler remained defiant in the face of any doubters.

Hessenthaler, pictured, assembled a team for promotion in the summer and is sure the squad has what it takes to achieve things this season, despite their 2-1 defeat at Morecambe on Saturday.

He said: "We are still only 16 games in and we are not even near halfway yet. We know where we need to be. We need to keep plugging away and it’s amazing how the game of football can change in a week.

"After the win over Oxford, we’ve had two defeats. All-of-a-sudden there is a bit of doom and gloom but we need to get on with it and keep working hard. We need that belief, desire and quality to strive to better things.

"This time last year there were people putting graffiti over the walls about the chairman and myself and saying they wanted to get rid of us. Is that going to help? I don’t think so.

"We have a good squad of players here. We are down in 10th place and so be it. That’s what it is because we are inconsistent. Will we be up there among the frontrunners come the end of the season? Yes, we will."

Do you share Andy Hessenthaler's belief that Gillingham will be in the hunt for promotion next May? Have your say in our comments section below.