Gillingham 3 Rotherham 1

GILLINGHAM manager Stan Ternent is already looking forward to the next game after Saturday’s vital 3-1 win over rock bottom Rotherham.

Ternent believes his squad are in good shape and will continue their revival at Brighton on Boxing Day, despite losing two more players to injury.

Tommy Johnson pulled a hamstring in training last Thursday and Matthew Jarvis is due to undergo a hernia operation today.

But Ternent said: "Winning matches breathes confidence. We can enjoy this win and now look forward to the game against Brighton. I have no doubt there will be set backs along the way but we need another 10 wins.

"It will be tough but it is a challenge I’m not afraid of. It is better to have tried and failed, than never to have tried at all.

"All football clubs have to contend with loss of form, injury and suspensions but if you have a good squad you can cope. We have a good squadv but if I can improve it by bringing in players on loan, then I will."

Against the Millers, Gillingham put together an impressive second-half show with goals from Chris Hope, Jarvis and a sensational own goal from Paolo Vernazza to take all three points.

Ternent added: "I’m delighted with the result and we deserved the win. The fans were terrific and the players gave a committed performance and showed courage.

"I could not have asked anymore from them but that has never been in question at Gillingham, it just needs channelling in the right direction.

"The Rotherham set-up was always going to be difficult to break down but we had the lion’s share of the possession in the first half, hit the woodwork and could have had a penalty."

Ternent described putting one over on his good friend Ronnie Moore as "just what the doctor ordered" but did have sympathy for his plight.

He said: "It’s not a level playing field for Ronnie at the moment. He’s an extremely good manager and it gives me the greatest pleasure inflicting defeat on him. I know he’ll take that the right way as we may be the best of friends off the field but football is business."

Moore described his side’s performance as one of the worst of the season.

He said: "That was not us out there. It was powder-puff and lacklustre. This was supposed to be a cup final for us but we certainly didn’t play like it."