Gillingham boss Steve Lovell is looking beyond survival.

Lovell doesn’t want his side to scrape to safety – he’s keen on beating last season’s efforts when the Gills finished 17th in League 1 with 56 points.

Saturday’s draw against Rochdale leaves his side 13th in the table with 48 points – six clear of the bottom four with six games to play.

“We have six games to go, we’ve got 48 points and I would love to beat last year’s total,” stated Lovell.

“We have a heck of a chance of beating that. We have a chance of doing it against some of the sides who are struggling down the bottom.

“It would be nice to get to the 56 points before the last few games and then try to beat that. If we do, we could finish halfway up the table.

“Results went for us (on Saturday). Oxford won late on and have gone above us, but we’re 13th and the main thing is we’re six points above the drop zone. We’re fine and we move onto next week now.”

The Gills have overcome a tough run of games and are three unbeaten after picking up a point at leaders Luton, securing a vital three points at relegation rivals AFC Wimbledon and claiming a draw against another team battling for survival in the Dale.

Next up for the Gills is a game away to play-off chasing Peterborough on Saturday.

“We’ve had three different games,” Lovell said.

“We played a Luton team who love to play football and tactically we had to be right.

"We had to match Wimbledon for endeavour and then use the ball on a nice pitch, which we did second half.

“On Saturday it was 90 minutes of sheer blood and determination to try and get a foothold of the game.”

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Lovell insists no game at present is must-win, however.

He said: “Even had we lost on Saturday there are six games where we could pick up 18 points.

“It’s only must-win if it’s the last game of the season and we need three points to stay up, that is must-win.

“The boys were magnificent (on Saturday) and they battled them.

"I thought we played some decent football at times, we couldn’t get over that line, but I will take a decent performance and a point over a bad performance and no point.”

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