Gillingham are now just six points adrift of the play-off places but manager Steve Lovell is still focusing on survival.

Lovell’s key objective when taking over was to lift the Gills clear of the drop zone but he’s done more than that.

A 2-1 win over Northampton maintains their slim chances of finishing the season in the top six.

But Lovell said: “I am still not thinking about (the play-offs). 50-51 points is our aim, it always has been.

“It’s another three points towards that and we are on 44 now. We will keep going. We have another hard game Saturday (at home to Walsall).”

Lovell could reach his magic 50 point total this month, with three games remaining.

He said: “Let’s see. Let’s get Saturday out of the way, let’s get to 47 points and then we can expand on that.

“I am cautious and I am just happy we have got to 44. We are getting close.”
Defender Gabriel Zakuani was asked about a possible top-six finish and he said: “You have to keep an eye on it.

“The main objective is to get safe first but once that is done we want to get as high as we can.”

Lovell isn’t short of options now, should he wish to make changes this weekend.

Lee Martin and Scott Wagstaff both came off the bench at Northampton, following calf and hamstring injuries respectively, to help see the game out.

He said: “I have most of the squad back fit and our bench was strong (on Tuesday).

“There are players on the bench who are unlucky not to be in the team and that is a great position for me to be in.

“I didn’t think Lee was ready to do a whole 90 minutes, so there was no point starting him, I would rather bring him on like we did and it worked out perfectly.

“Everyone should be ready and fit and be able to play on Saturday and that is a nice position to be in.”