by Luke Cawdell

Martin Allen believes his squad rotation policy will reap its rewards as players stay sharper for longer.

While some clubs are fielding the same team week after week, Allen has been able to pick from a squad of around 20 players, who have all been involved.

The Gills have just emerged from a run of games where the players have had to fight right to the last whistle for points.

But Allen (pictured) said: "Our players are fit, strong and they work extremely hard. Because we have been able to rotate them in different games and given other players opportunities to come in and play, it does keep them relatively fresh.

"That is one of the beauties of the squad we’ve got. Those games might have taken a lot out of ourselves but a lot of it is mental anyway and had we won, nobody would have complained about being tired or that sort of rubbish. Our players are extremely fit and don’t really feel that sort of stuff."

Goalkeeper Stuart Nelson and defender Matt Fish are the only players to have started every league game so far, with 24 players making an appearance so far – with an impressive 17 of those players finding the net this season.