Mark Stimson will put his hurt and frustration to one side as he begins to plot a way back into League 1.

The Gillingham manager saw his side fail to avoid the drop on Saturday and plummet into the league’s bottom division but he insists the future is still bright at Priestfield.

"I’ll get over it, look up and look forward," said Stimson, after the Gills’ 2-1 defeat against Leeds at Elland Road on Saturday. "We won’t lose any belief in how the game should be played because we’re not far off that.

"Normally at the end of the season I’m talking about play-offs and cup finals. This time I feel hurt and frustration.

"It’s over 46 games and we need to make sure that next season we start how we finish. If we do that we give ourselves a great opportunity of bouncing back.

"The fans need to keep believing because we’re not going to stop. We’ve got the base and the nucleus of a good squad and if we can add to that then I’m sure we can enjoy some good times.

"We aim to win games, get the doubters back and into the stadium and make our own ground like Elland Road, which is a place you don’t really want to go to."

Stimson’s situation was helped after getting the backing from chairman Paul Scally, whether they were relegated or not, and the Gills boss feels he has the backing needed to take the club forward.