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Neil Harris has reiterated that he’ll be carrying on as Gillingham manager whatever the outcome of their relegation fight.
Ten weeks into the job and with two games to go, Harris has seen nothing to change his mind about a long-term project at Gillingham, which was what first attracted him to the Priestfield role.
He has managed to lift the club from the depths of the League 1 relegation zone - 10 points adrift when he took charge - to within a chance of staying in the third tier with two big game remaining.
Ahead of their big game at Portsmouth this Saturday, he said: “I took the challenge on knowing that really we were 11 points adrift, with an horrific goal difference, I knew what the challenge was and I made the decision that I was coming for the project, and would be here no matter what league we are in next year.
“I can only embrace the challenge and enjoy it and say, ‘well, I am here next year no matter what, so why not just enjoy it?’
“I do get frustrated at times because I want us to be better, I want us to see games out, unlike at Cheltenham, I want more players available, I don't want an injury record that we have got associated to my football club but I can’t control them at the moment, if I can’t control it why get angry about it? Why not embrace it and enjoy it.”
The Gills have drawn their last three games but sit a place and a point above the bottom four ahead of their last two games. There was disappointment at the dropped points but Harris was quick to focus on their achievements.
He said: “I have had to remind the players of some stats. Had the season started on February 1 [when Harris was appointed] then we would be 12th in the table and that is credit to the players.
“We have had seven clean sheets and only conceded 13 goals in that period. I know defending one end of the pitch, you can’t always be as productive the other end, but you have to build from somewhere. I reminded the players of that, that is their doing, they have produced that between them, there are not many of them, but credit to them.
“We are ready to go now for the weekend and really looking forward to it. The boys have done brilliant, we have to just see it through, one more week.
“Going into the last seven days of the season we are outside the relegation zone where everybody assumed we would be relegated already by this time. The lads are really good.
“The stats show that we have a group of players that are capable of competing, that we can organise a group of players to be competitive in this division and my thought process hasn’t changed at all.
“I came for a longer term project and all I have done in the last 10 weeks has been to give a bit of hope and belief to this season and build for the future. Short-term is April 30 at 5pm (when the season ends), mid-term is about the transfer window in the summer and pre-season, longer-term is about building a culture at the football club, a squad and an infrastructure, that carries this club for years to come, not just with Neil Harris in charge.
“I am here to make the football club better and the chairman is desperate to support my plans. We have made a lot of changes quickly, some we have to be patient with, but I don’t want to stand still, that is the main thing for me.”
