Gillingham players have been working overtime to get ready for the visit of Southend United this Saturday.

Players and management are keen to rid the memory of last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Oxford and have been putting in the hours to get things right.

Gills boss Steve Evans said: “The boys have worked hard and have been doing double sessions all week to make sure we have got a bit of focus back.

“We have reacted this week with a training programme and in fairness to the players, they have been brilliant, every one of them.

“There is not one who didn’t recognise Saturday was not acceptable for 45 minutes, wholly unacceptable, and there wasn’t one who didn’t try and rectify it in the second half.

“We dug the hole, we did it with a digger and then tried to fill it in with a tea spoon, it was too late! Hopefully we are back in good shape and focused for Saturday. It is our job as a management team to focus.”

• Evans holds his hands up to errors

The Gills head into this weekend’s game sitting 16th in League 1, but just three points off a mid-table position. Evans remains confident he can finish in the top half this season.

They face a struggling Southend side on Saturday.

He said: “If we win, we are expected to, and if we don’t people will look at us again, but had we won last Saturday we would be in the top 10.

“There is a lot of inconsistency in the league. What we need to do is take care of our results and improve on them.

“We have to acknowledge we have had a tough run of games when you are playing Wycombe, then the league leaders, Ipswich, who were a point off the league leaders, away to Bristol Rovers and then Oxford, who were flying off the back of wins against Lincoln (6-0) and West Ham (4-0).

‘We dug the hole with a digger and tried to fill it in with a tea spoon’

“It doesn’t go unnoticed in the board room or the management office that we are operating with a bottom three-bottom four budget.”

But he added, with confidence: “We will be in that top half of that table, for sure.

“We need to get some results to back it up. I am absolutely confident in that.

“If we get three points on the board (against Southend) we will be in the top half of the table on Saturday night and we have a game in hand on some people to be nearer the top 10.”

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