PLAYER-manager Andy Hessenthaler reckons it is too early to say Gillingham are involved in a relegation dogfight.

Gills lie 20th in the Championship after picking up just 10 points from 10 games, following Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Brighton. But Hessenthaler insists nothing is decided so early on in the season.

He said that the pressure being heaped on the club was taking its toll but he’s not about to quit.

He said: “Leagues are not won in September and are not lost in September. Anybody outside of this football club would say Gillingham staying in this division is great and for four years we’ve done that.

“But expectation levels are high and I want to do better than just stay in the division. I want to get into the top half and really push on. At the moment we’re not looking like we’re going to do that.

“I don’t feel any pressure, to be honest. I do as a player. I only put pressure on myself really to do well. The chairman’s not putting any pressure on me. He knows how tough it is at the moment.

“We have tried to get players in and change things around but we’re getting knocked back.

“I’m just going to keep going and keep working hard. There’s no way I’m going to ever think about walking away.”

Hessenthaler believed his side deserved to get something from Saturday’s game.

“No disrespect to Brighton,” he said. “We’re at home, we should be beating Brighton. We know that but it was a nervous game.

“We didn’t do enough in their half when we had the football because of late we’ve been poor defensively and that’s what we’ve concentrated on all week, keeping it tight.

“I thought we did that for most of the game and it was a kick in the teeth when we conceded the penalty.

“I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game, it had a draw written all over it.”

With a home game tomorrow night (Tuesday) against Leicester, Gillingham have an early opportunity to put things right.

“At the moment we’re down, we’re deflated and we’ve got to pick ourselves up for Tuesday night because we’re playing against a good side.

“They lost on Saturday and they won’t be happy with that. Micky (Adams) is coming back to one of his old clubs and they’ll want to bounce back.”

Hessenthaler himself could come into the reckoning for the visit of Leicester and that is expected to be the only change to the squad.