Gillingham are the form team in the League 1 fight for survival but manager Neil Harris is keen to keep his team grounded.

Harris has taken the Gills from 10 points adrift to four points clear of the bottom four with six games to play.

While the Gills have been picking up points, those around them have been wilting under the pressure. It’s meant the usual 50-point mark for survival in League 1 is likely to be much lower this season.

None of the five teams below the Gills have so far claimed a league win this month, while Harris’ men have picked up maximum points against Doncaster and Accrington and a draw against Sheffield Wednesday.

Bottom side Crewe were the last of the bottom five to have enjoyed three points when they won at Cheltenham on February 26. It was their only win in 13. Wimbledon’s form is even worse, with no wins in their last 20 and defeats from their past five matches. They sacked head coach Mark Robinson on Monday.

Doncaster haven’t won in five, Morecambe boast just a single success from their last 15 and Fleetwood are without a win in 13. A goalless draw with Doncaster last time out ended a run of five straight losses.

Gillingham are bucking the trend, with five wins from 12 under Harris, and are now up to 19th in the table, leaving Lincoln City once again looking over their shoulders. Such is the terrible form of those below that The Imps shouldn’t be dragged into the scrap.

Harris won’t be letting his players ease off, however. The Gills will still need a few more points and the manager said: “We have taken 18 points from 12 games, a healthy return, and that is credit to the players again, that is the sort of form we have to show between now and the end of the season.

“All it does is give us confidence and belief, it gives the fans belief and hope, and it scares the life out of the teams around us, above us and below us, that we are on a roll, but my words are clear. We have achieved nothing yet, we just have to win the next one.

“It is about preparing the players for the next game, making sure their mindsets are correct.

“We are positive with the players, they know nothing is personal from me, if they need telling I will tell them but I will show them as well, I will help them to develop and to learn, that is all we have done so far.

“We can’t expect teams to lose every week, sooner or later teams will win games of football.

“Before I came in, we hadn’t won for 16 or 17 games, then it changes. All I can take care of and control is what we do on a weekly basis, preparing the players correctly, picking the right formation and the right team and I would like to think we have got it more right more often than not.

“I know I have to do it again for the next six games and next week will be as tough a game as we have had since I have been here, against a really good Sunderland side, but another game we look forward to.”

Along with Sunderland, the Gills still have to play Wycombe, Portsmouth and Rotherham, all four in the top 10. They also face Cheltenham away (currently 12th) while strugglers Fleetwood come to town for an Easter Monday clash.