Gillingham 0 Ipswich Town 0

GILLINGHAM manager Stan Ternent praised his players for climbing out of the relegation zone for the first time in five months – and urged them to keep fighting for survival.

His team’s goalless draw with promotion-chasing Ipswich on Saturday lifted them out of the bottom three at the expense of Coventry.

Ternent, who has never suffered a relegation in his career, said: "Being out of the bottom three is marvellous for us. We have been trying hard for some time and gradually closing the gap.

"Psychologically it’s a great boost for us. There’s still a long way to go, though, and there will be a few twists and turns before the end. We need to keep going and keep picking up results.

"I think we deserve to be out of the bottom three. It’s down to the players. They have the will and the desire and we have only lost once in our last eight games, so obviously that breeds confidence.

"Getting out of the relegation zone should have a good effect on the players. It’s certainly had a good effect on me."

The Gills could easily have taken all three points off Ipswich, with the crossbar denying Jonathan Douglas in injury time. Ipswich keeper Kelvin Davis also denied Douglas, Mamady Sidibe and Mike Flynn with fine saves.

But Ternent said he wasn’t disappointed with the result, which stretches Gillingham’s unbeaten run to five matches.

He said: "I’m happy with a point. Make no mistake about it, Ipswich are a very good side. We had the majority of the clear cut chances but the ball would not go in for us."

Barry Ashby, currently out with a severely sprained ankle, could be back in contention for a place in the squad when Gillingham travel to Preston for their next game on April 2.

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