Steve Lovell has got the seal of approval from Gillingham’s international defender Gabriel Zakuani.

Experienced campaigner Zakuani is the latest Gills player to give Lovell the thumbs up, even if they did slip to a costly home defeat against Northampton on Saturday.

Lovell has one win, a draw and a defeat on his record since taking temporary charge of the Gills following Peter Taylor’s departure.

“I think everyone has responded to him,” said the 31-year-old defender.

“It was his first defeat but it wasn’t a game we should have lost. There were a lot of positives to take.

“I think the players are happy and the fans can see what he is trying to do. I am very happy with what he is doing.

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“We seem confident, the shackles are off, we’re enjoying it and he is letting us express ourselves. I see plenty of positives of having him around.

“The final word is with the chairman but if you ask the players, I think they would definitely agree we are enjoying it.”

Zakuani felt the Gills were unlucky not to have built on positive results against Wigan and Peterborough in the past two games.

The Gills were overtaken by Northampton after Saturday’s game, leaving them just a point and a place off the foot of the League 1 table.

He said: "The least we should’ve taken was a point, we should really have won comfortably.

“There have been a lot more positives and we can see the wins are coming."