Andy Frampton is enjoying life in midfield – even though he admits himself he is surprised to find himself in that role.

The 33-year-old (pictured) has played central defence for most of his career but this season under Martin Allen he has been deployed further up the pitch.

He role as a defensive-midfield player has helped the club to successive clean sheets, at Bradford and York.

“Being a defender by trade throughout the majority of my career I would never have dreamt to be in this position but it’s been really enjoyable playing in that role and long may it continue,” said the former Millwall man.

“It does give the full-backs the opportunity to attack and we don’t want to leave ourselves too open at the back. It is a bit of a safety net for the defence and for the two centre halves to have a bit of cover.”

Frampton has started 10 of the last 11 matches as part of a settled defensive unit. It is one area where Allen has not made many changes.

“That does help,” Frampton said. “You get a lot more consistency through doing it that way and I think the results have shown that. It has certainly kept us quite solid.”

The Gills head into a game against Dagenham this weekend, aiming to make shake off their poor home record, but the contrast between points picked up at Priestfield and on the road isn’t something Frampton is losing any sleep over.

“Maybe towards the end of the season our home form will be better than our away form,” he said.

“It is the way football works sometimes. It generally evens itself out over the course of a season.

“It’s a derby match on Saturday – well as close as we get to one – and it should be a feisty affair.”

And with new signings arriving at Priestfield, Frampton will be facing extra competition for the shirt.

But he believes the battle to win a place in the starting XI is a good one.

He said: “It is a great atmosphere among the players in the team and from those just outside and everyone is pushing each other. It is the perfect recipe of a successful side and hopefully it will carry us through to the end of the season. We have good players waiting in the wings who can come on if needed.”

And Frampton is hoping this season he can add another promotion to his CV.

“It is a great feeling and it doesn’t come around too often,” he said. “So when it does it is something to grab hold of. This is something we have to grab hold of with both hands.”