Gillingham captain Kyle Dempsey says the touchline energy shown by the team’s management is infectious.

Dempsey admits he’s glad they’ve got a midweek break - the first time in five weeks they haven’t had a Tuesday game - but says manager Steve Evans and assistant Paul Raynor are helping to drive them on.

Evans, along with Raynor, don’t stop from the technical area with instructions, encouragement and sometimes criticism but it’s not a bad thing for the skipper.

He said: “If the fans can hear it on iplayer [the live match stream] you definitely know that we can hear him, but it is infectious energy on the pitch, it gives us that boost.

“There is not one minute in the game where he allows you to have that little rest period, it is 110% constantly and that is the way we play and the way we will continue to play for the last nine games.”

The way the Gills play has got to many of their opponents, they've been criticised for playing 'unpretty football', but a direct approach, coupled with a bit of quality in the final third has served them well.

They’ve been taking points off the leading sides in recent games, including a 2-2 draw against play-off rivals Doncaster on Saturday.

The Gills were 2-0 up after just four minutes but allowed Rovers back into the game. Evans’ men dominated the second half but couldn’t find a winning goal.

Dempsey said: “We are confident, we go into every game thinking we are going to win and I think a couple of teams are now starting to look at us. Not many teams want to play against us, we always get criticised for our style of play, [people say] that it is not pretty, but in League 1 it is about finding a way to win and we have found it, we have got our identity and we will stick to it until the end of the year.

“It is just about getting as many three points as we can and trying to get ourselves into those play-offs.

“I believe that if we can get into the play-offs there would not be many teams that want to play us, we have to keep it going. The individuality in this team is to a very high level, in recent weeks we have shown the togetherness, we are so tight-knit, we all give 110% and seem to get stronger every single game.

“Those recent results give you that lift, you can imagine how tired the players are on a daily basis but once you get over that white line you forget about that. Over the past few weeks we have had some really good performances.

“I think you can see, game in game out, we are just so confident on the pitch, we are going into every game thinking that we can win. I think if we take a positive from Saturday was that when they got it back to 2-2, the old us a couple of months ago would have crumbled and got beaten, but we showed resilience, stuck together and we should have put the game to bed [in the second half]. We came away with a point and we have to be happy with it.”

Dempsey’s been chipping in with the goals, along with some top performances. He’s on eight for the season along with a handful of assists and he’s enjoying his time with the Gills.

“I wanted a fresh start,” he said, having moved to Gillingham from Fleetwood.

“My performances at Fleetwood were at a high level, but I wasn’t finding myself in scoring situations or setting them up, it nagged at me for a while, I kept looking at my game. When I came here the gaffer named me the captain and it has given me that extra drive.

“There are times in games where I probably have no energy left but I have that feeling I need to keep going and driving this team.

“I have worked really hard this year in getting into more scoring opportunities, I feel I have that form back from when I first started at Carlisle, driving with the ball, driving in behind, that is where I have got my goals and assists from.

“When you have staff who believe in you, with their words and praise, it then comes to myself, I have to perform for them because of the belief and the pride they have shown in me, I need to repay them for how well they have treated me.

“My best season [for scoring] was at Carlisle [netting 11 in the 2014/15 season] but with my performances this season week in, week out, I have hit the peak of my form, I have nine games left and I will look to continue that to the end of the year.”