Boss Steve Lovell says 3-1 win over Scunthorpe evidence of Gillingham's soaring confidence

By: Luke Cawdell lcawdell@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 07:43, 22 January 2018

Gillingham boss Steve Lovell has got his team believing.

His side started the weekend sitting 14th in League 1, knowing a win could take them as high as 11th.

Few would have given the Gills much hope of winning at high-flying Scunthorpe, a side in form themselves, but they pulled it off on Saturday.

Gills boss Steve Lovell embraces keeper Tomas Holy at full-time on Saturday Picture: Ady Kerry

Goals from Lee Martin, Josh Parker and Tom Eaves gave Lovell’s men a 3-1 win, lifting them into the top half of the table.

The Gills manager said: “Before the game I said to the boys that they could find themselves up to 11th with a win. It is a psychological thing.

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“You have to make people believe in themselves and what you can do. I told them I wasn’t interested in a draw, I wanted to win. If we won we could be up to 11th and that was their goal.

“As the game panned out me and Patto (assistant Mark Patterson) were saying, ‘we are going to win this’.”

The Gills were 1-0 up at the break but Scunthorpe hit back early in the second half to equalise. Goalscorer Josh Morris also hit the post.

Lovell said: “When they equalised you do have doubts and you think, ‘do we change things?’ But we felt we would nick something, they were leaving holes at the back because they needed another goal.

“I was just pleased with the way we got those two goals.

“I think that comes from the belief inside the boys now. They are disappointed we conceded and I know why, I will speak to the players concerned, but I am not going to let that goal take anything away from the overall performance and the way we bounced back, showing we can come back after conceding."

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It was Gills’ third win in a row, pulling them seven points clear of the relegation places and nine off the play-offs.

Lovell said: “We want to get as many points on the board as possible as quick as we can, that’s the aim for us.

“There is still a long way to go. It’s not rocket science what’s happening at the moment, we are playing well, we have good technical players who showed they can run, they are fit, they can score goals and create.

"Put all that together and it is the reason why we are getting the results.”