Martin Allen insists the players are the ones who need to put the effort in – not the fans.

Gillingham manager Allen was reacting to the open letter written to the home supporters by chairman Paul Scally ahead of the weekend game against Bradford, calling for fans to get behind the players.

“The chairman sent out a positive letter,” said Allen. “It was good communication with the supporters.

“The supporters have just seen us play for 10 months and only lost five matches. You can imagine how frustrating it is for them if they pay their money.

“You can’t expect supporters to turn up, cheer, clap, get off their seats and sing their hearts out for the team if you are bang average. If you don’t run around, you don’t compete, you don’t do your job, you can write any letter you want, it isn’t going to happen.

“The responsibility is the other way around. The letter should go to the players, it should come to me.

“The fans pay and it’s our job to entertain them and put on good performances, to get them off their feet.”