by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham came through a physical battle against Oldham on Saturday which manager Mark Stimson feels could set the tone for the rest of their League 1 campaign.

The Gills face a number of mid-table teams in the run up to Christmas and Stimson (pictured) knows that pretty football won’t be the only thing that gets them through.

Stimson said: "We’ve always said for us to succeed this year is to stay in the division.

"Over the next six to eight weeks there are going to be games like Saturday, because of the time of year it is.

"We’ll have to dig in and try to grind them out."

Gillingham defeated Oldham 1-0 at Priestfield and Stimson said: "It’s important we look after ourselves but we just have to try and maintain this home form, it’s been remarkable and hopefully we can improve on our trips."

Stimson was without four key men on Saturday with top scorer Simeon Jackson on international duty with Canada, captain Barry Fuller suspended and long-term absentees Simon King and Danny Jackman ruled out.

"We need to do what we did on Saturday again and again," said Stimson. "Two of those players, Jackman and King, won’t be ready for a few weeks yet. We need to try and grind the results out but also play as well."