Gillingham will enter the second half of their League 2 campaign with nothing to fear after matching Premier League high-flyers Aston Villa on Sunday.

Mark Stimson’s side came close to claiming a deserved draw against Villa at Priestfield and the Gills boss is now plotting to gate-crash the League 2 promotion race.

Stimson said: “There’s nothing for us to fear. The players can now take that confidence into the remaining 23 games of the league season and hopefully we’ll end up with the points we need.

“I’ve told the players that the big buzz is still waiting to happen. It’s not in the cup, it will come with promotion.

“They played well against a good side and there’s no reason why they can’t do the same in League 2 now.”