by Luke Cawdell

Furious Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler may dip into the loan market as he looks to overhaul his defence following Saturday’s collapse at Priestfield.

The Gills threw away a 2-0 and a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 against AFC Wimbledon – a defeat that saw them drop out of the play-off places.

Hessenthaler (pictured) knows he has to act now as he starts to analyse what went wrong in the last 20 minutes on home soil.

He plans to bring young defender Connor Essam back from a loan spell at Dartford and could also give centre-back Simon King a key role.

"After that we need to sort something out," said Hessenthaler. "I might be harsh on a few boys but that’s the way it is.

"We are here to try and achieve something this season and that’s what we have to do. I’ll put the kids in because they will defend better than that."

With the transfer window open, Hessenthaler will also be looking elsewhere for players to help.

"The chairman will back me on that," he said. "He won’t have that (performance). That will be what I am looking for now, even if it’s just a couple of loanees.

"We will get some younger ones in, whatever. We need to get Connor back as well. We’ll give the lad an opportunity because I can’t have that week in, week out."