Gillingham are faced with a must-win home match on Monday if they want to keep their play-off bid alive.

A last-gasp draw at Bristol Rovers on Friday leaves the Gills just three points off the top seven but with strugglers Dagenham arriving at Priestfield it’s a game they can’t afford to drop points in.

Any slip-up now could end any realistic hopes of achieving League 1 football next season.

And boss Andy Hessenthaler (pictured) knows all too well the importance of the next game.

"It’s not about performances now, it’s about getting points," he said. "We’ve got to get three points. The boys know that and they are not silly. I believe we will do it."

Dagenham are scrapping for their lives at the wrong end of League 2 and sit perilously close to the relegation zone.

It means Hessenthaler’s former club head to Priestfield with plenty to play for themselves.

"It’s going to be another battle," said Hessenthaler. "I have worked under the manager there (John Still) and he plays a certain way, they are very well organised and they get it up there from back to front and they will fight for everything. John Still’s teams always do. John is a good man and it won’t be an easy game for us."