JOINT caretaker manager Mick Docherty said Gillingham need a permanent boss as soon as possible to get the club going in the right direction.

Last week’s 1-0 win over Brighton had many tipping stand-ins Docherty and Iffy Onoura to get the post full-time.

But Docherty admitted Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest won’t have helped their job prospects.

He said: “This result hasn’t done our prospects much good. We had a good result in our first game but today was different.

“The chairman will be looking to appoint a manager sooner rather than later and that should steady the ship and get the club moving forward again.

“The players need to pick themselves up from this result immediately and I’m sure they will all be looking forward to playing Leeds on Saturday.

“They will want us to bounce back from this result as soon as possible.”