Gillingham fans voted Mark Bentley as their KM Group player-of-the-month for October and the midfielder was delighted.

The 31-year-old said: "It was a bit of a shock. I know I’ve been doing OK but winning this will give me a lot of confidence and hopefully it will help me kick on for the rest of the season. It’s nice to be getting the recognition from playing in midfield and I’m delighted."

Bentley, pictured, who until mid-October was playing in defence, started November with the third goal in the 3-0 win over his old club Southend on Saturday.

"It was great to score and I was due one," he said. "I got up well but the ball came in quite high and I didn’t have a clue where it went. I was delighted to see it bounce in off the post and that has given me a lot of confidence as I would like to score more."

The cross came from left-back Chris Palmer, his second assist of the afternoon, and Bentley was grateful of the service.

He added: "I know he likes to get his crosses in early. He’s not a bag of tricks and gets it out of his feet quickly.

"With me at the back stick it gives him a target to aim for and we’ll be looking for more of the same on Saturday,

"It was nice to get that winning feeling again. We’re back playing in the league and that’s our bread and butter. We need to start clawing away from the foot of the table.

"Saturday will be tough and speaking with Kevin Maher (who played for Oldham last season) they look to keep it tight at the back away from home and it will be difficult for us."