A Boxing Day trip into Essex gives Gillingham the chance to put right some wrongs.

A 3-2 home defeat to Chesterfield on Saturday undid much of the positive atmosphere that had been generated from a six-game unbeaten run.

Their opponents for the festive match are Colchester – a team proving to be just as unpredictable as his own.

“The league is still crazy,” said Gills boss Peter Taylor.

“We beat Doncaster away and then they went to Swindon and beat them. Swindon are one of the best teams in the division and would have gone top with a win. That just shows you the league we are in.

“What are we expecting at Colchester? Well I am expecting us to start better than we have and I am expecting us to have much better shape.

“Colchester had a very good away win against Yeovil (in their last match), so they will have got confidence from that, but in their last home game they lost 4-0 to Rochdale.

“You never know what players are going to do at this level because they are inconsistent. All you can do is concentrate on your own team. I am going to concentrate on us having much better shape and a better start.”

The Gills will be at the midway point of the season at the end of the year, following their trip to Colchester and a home game against Bristol City.

Taylor’s men currently sit just two points outside the relegation places but he is happy with the progression they are making.

He said: “We have played 21 matches and we are near on in the same position as the previous season and that team had been together for a couple of years.

“For a young team we are making sensible progress. We are certainly playing the ball around a little bit more and playing more football. I would be amazed if people didn’t think that.

“We are getting there. Like Saturday showed, we are still making mistakes at wrong times and it is costing us but that is just the strength of the division.

“We could be playing in Division 2 now, making the same mistakes and getting away with it, because the other teams aren’t going to punish you as much. Some of these teams do.

“Overall I think we are progressing as a team.

“It is still going to take time. It doesn’t mean that after 21 matches, straight away, all the young players gel and it is fantastic football and winning every week. I don’t think that will be the case for us in League 1.”