ANDY HESSENTHALER walked away from a war of words with opposite number Carlton Palmer at the end of Gillingham's 2-0 win last night at Stockport. Palmer, Stockport's outspoken player-manager, insisted: "On another day we would have beaten Gillingham by four or five goals.

"In the second half we camped in Gillingham's half. The fact that we didn't win has everything to do with the position we're in at the foot of the table." His comments contasted starkly with Hessenthaler's views on a match that saw Gillingham chalk up three straight league wins for the first time since last season's promotion.

Asked about Palmer's remarks and the chances of him saving Stockport from relegation, Hessenthaler backed off from a confrontation. He said: "Football is all about opinion and Carlton is entitled to his.

"I don't want to comment on what he has to do to keep Stockport up but I believe we were the better side on the night and the scoreline shows that. We certainly passed the ball a lot better than Stockport did. Our defending was first class and so was Guy Butters on his return to the side. We're pleased with the system we're playing but we've got 25 games left and nobody is getting carried away.

"I'm certainly not going to tempt fate and say we've turned the corner. I've said from day one that our ambition is to stay in this division and finish higher than we did last season. That will show real progress."