Gillingham manager Mark Stimson was in defiant mood despite losing to basement side Port Vale on Monday.

The defeat leaves the Gills five points from safety, but with a game in hand, and Stimson won’t be throwing in the towel while there is hope.

“It’s not over and we won’t say it is until it’s mathematically impossible,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep creating these chances and get a bit of luck.

"If we had scored our penalty against Port Vale it would have been 1-1 and a different story.

“The only way we’re going to do it is by working harder, keeping our chins up and having the belief. I’ve certainly got that and that will never go down. I’m just going to try and transfer that to the players.

“We say to the players ‘be proud to wear your shirt and give it all you’ve got.' If you do that there won’t be any complaints from me."

Gillingham missed a penalty and had a number of chances to score and the misses proved costly.

“We really did feel we could get something at Port Vale,” said Stimson. “We have to roll our sleeves up and get on with it because there are some big games coming up.

“We’ve got a bunch of players who deserve to stay in this division and I think they will because they’ve got the right attitude and every game you need a bit of luck.

“They gave it their all and I’m sure the supporters were very frustrated going home from Port Vale, but if we can create that many chances in the remaining seven games I’m sure we’ll end up scoring three or four goals.”