Gillingham caretaker boss Steve Lovell has no idea how long he’ll be in charge for.

Lovell is back at Priestfield in the wake of Steve Evans’ exit and is happy to take the reins for as long as required, as the Gills battle for League 1 survival.

With four of the next five games at home, starting with Burton on Saturday, there’s a chance to pick up some points if Lovell hits the ground running.

Lovell, who will be assisted by Gills midfielder Alex MacDonald, met the squad at training on Monday.

His appointment was well-received by the players, who have been keen to buy into his ideas.

“When I went in they were happy,” said Lovell.

“I don’t know what went on before and I don’t really want to know, I’m just looking to the future and the remaining time of the season or the remaining time I’m there.

“What’s gone is gone. I just want to work and put my stamp on what I want to do.

“I haven’t discussed with the chairman (Paul Scally) how long I’ll be there.

“He’s asked me to come in and do a job and that’s what I’ll do until I’m told otherwise.

“I respect the chairman, he’s got a hard job to run the football club but he’s run it brilliantly for the last 20-odd years and the club is crying out for a little bit of success.

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“I’ll work hard for him and the football club and I think the fans will understand I’m Gillingham through and through and all I want is success for the football club.

“If I can instil that passion and enthusiasm into the players I think the fans will respond to that but we need people to be behind us all the way and when I was there the last time they were brilliant with me.

“Hopefully we can kick off on Saturday with a great atmosphere, a great win or a great performance and give them something to cheer about.

“It’s a difficult situation for everybody.

“The fans aren’t happy with what’s been going on and, to a certain extent, the players aren’t happy with what’s been going on.

“But they’re players, they’ve got to get on with it and perform on the football field and they haven’t for one reason or the other, so we’ve got to make sure they start performing.

“It can be done but you’ve got to have the players willing to do it, willing to learn, and so far they’ve been excellent.

“You can see there’s a buzz in the camp now and hopefully we can push on.”