Gills boss Justin Edinburgh knows he must lift his team again for another big challenge this weekend.

They were brought back down to earth with a bump on Monday after being outplayed by promotion-chasing Bolton, who eased to a 4-0 win.

Gillingham are now six points adrift of the League 1 play-offs and they host MK Dons on Saturday.

Edinburgh said: “It’s a different opposition, a different proposition but a team that have come out of the Championship and a team that have got promoted out of this league.

“It is my job to lift the players and look forward to Saturday.

“We have to learn from it (the Bolton defeat), look at it and analyse it, not just say ‘oh well, we were expected to be beaten there’.

“We could have gone there and won the game and got something out of it. Not with that performance but that is our mentality and our aims. That is what we strive to do.

“The players gave it a go but it was just too big a gap.”

Reflecting on that difference in class, Edinburgh said: “The quality was there for all to see.
“We were coming up against Championship players.

“We have done well against the bigger teams but they are a good side. They are experienced and financially a gulf above us. You can see that their facilities are above us. On the pitch, there was a gulf."