Gillingham boss Mark Stimson heads into one of the busiest periods of the League 2 campaign determined his side maintain their promotion challenge.

He prepares for the visit of Chesterfield to Priestfield on Saturday at the start of a 12-game run between now and the end of January that will decide whether they can stay in contention.

Stimson said: “I thought as many as 14 clubs had a chance of promotion at the start of the season, that’s probably down to 12 now.

“Take Wycombe, who are on a fantastic run, out of it and everybody else is beating each other and it’s very close. We have got to maintain where we are and make sure we stay in the race.”

Stimson also believes the fixture list after next Tuesday’s FA Cup replay at Stockport is a key factor in terms of cost and fatigue.

He added: “Too much travelling can take it out of players but over the next couple of weeks it’s trips only as far as Barnet and Dagenham and that’s a big bonus.”