Gillingham’s midweek stand-in captain Scott Malone wasn’t hiding away from their goalscoring issues - but asked the fans to stick with them.

The Gills dropped out of the top seven for the first time this season after Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Crewe left them sitting eighth in the League 2 table.

Malone, captaining the side with club skipper Shaun Williams rested and vice-captain Max Ehmer on the bench, said: “I didn’t think the performance was a million miles away. We have created chances again, probably more than them.

“They were clinical and we weren’t, that was the story of the game.

“We’re creating chances but we’re not putting them in the net. If we want to be a top-seven side we need to score goals and we’re not doing it.

“We have to be better than that, we will be better than that, but we need to start scoring otherwise we won’t be a top-seven side.

“It is just not dropping for us, we are not putting the ball in the net, that’s the story. You can’t gloss it up any other way. You won’t be successful unless you do that.”

The Gills are the joint-lowest goalscorers in the division, with both themselves and Harrogate scoring just nine times in their first 11 games. Top scorers Swindon, who the Gills play later this month, have scored three times that figure.

Their defensive record, in contrast, is up there with the best, but they conceded twice on Tuesday.

“They were sloppy again, weren’t they?” said the 32-year-old left-back.

“Teams aren’t scoring fantastic goals against us. The second one we are over on the left, we are open, stretched, we gave the ball away and they run into space. That’s disappointing, but if we had taken our chances it’s three or four-one at half-time and the game is done. It is our fault, really.”

Gillingham play MK Dons this Saturday at home - an ideal chance to get back to winning ways after picking up just one point from their last three league outings.

Malone said: “If it goes wrong on a Tuesday you get to go again really quickly and we will look to bounce back.

“It’s a home game, I am sure we will sell a fair few tickets again and the fans will get right behind us like they have been, we need to pick up points now.

“We are at home in front of our fans and we need to put it right quickly.

“The fans have been fantastic, even at the end (on Tuesday), clapping us. It was a long way for them to go on a Tuesday, I am sure logistically it was a nightmare for them, but thanks to them for going. Stick with us.”

Williams is expected back at the weekend to reclaim the armband and Ehmer could play, too, leaving Malone back down the pecking order to be captain, but he was proud to have been given the opportunity.

He said: “It was my first professional game as a captain. [I’m] obviously disappointed with the way it ended, but on a personal note it is fantastic for me and I hope to do it again in the future, but we have a fantastic captain and fantastic vice-captain.

“I just like to help out as much as possible.

“It was an honour for me but it didn’t go the right way [for the team].”