Gillingham captain Kyle Dempsey is blocking out all of the negativity as he looks to lead the side back on track.

The Gills are without a goal or a point from their last five games in League 1, dropping to 17th in the table ahead of their visit to Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night.

Dempsey knows they need to turn it around sharpish and is confident they will.

“I have got to stay as positive as I can,” said the former Fleetwood midfielder. “Being negative will get us nowhere.

“The way we have played and applied ourselves against teams, you can only look at it as being positive. We have been on the end of losses but you see how we have played and the chances we have created, those games should not have been lost.

“We are slowly going down the table but I don’t need to say anything, as a group of professional footballers and people who really care about the job, it is massive night for us (at Crewe) and we will put things right.

“If you are negative things are going to follow so you have to stay as positive as you can. I think for the fans it is harder because they have seen us get beat in numerous games, we’ve not put any chances away, but you look at the chances we are creating, I think there are real positives.

“The performance on Saturday, until the man got sent off, was probably one of the best we have put in all season, we were dominant in possession, creating chances and we were on top. It was just unfortunate that we missed the penalty and missed the follow-up and then then man getting sent off. When things aren’t going your way they happen.

"The character of the group is going to be tested and we just have to stay as positive as we can. As a skipper that is all I can do, encourage everyone to stay doing what they are doing but obviously add that clinical edge.”

Sunderland were the latest team to take maximum points off the Gills, a game that turned once Alex MacDonald was red carded for a reckless challenge. That came shortly after Jordan Graham’s penalty miss.

Dempsey said: “Until the man gets sent off, we were totally dominant and the only side looking at winning the game, but once again we haven’t taken the chance.

“Jordan’s been unfortunate in missing the penalty and the follow up (from Dominic Samuel) and that’s how it has been in the last three or four games, just the clinical side hasn’t been there and anyone who has watched us in these last few games have seen real hard fought performances. We have created a lot of chances and they are not even small chances, they are big ones we are wasting, but we have to stay as positive as we can.

“We have a great group of lads, a lot of talent in the team and it’s one of those runs you have to get through. I am positive we will turn it around.”

Dempsey has had a stop-start first couple of months with the Gills following his summer switch from Fleetwood. He completed his second full league game on Saturday.

“I have had a pretty tough year,” he admitted.

“I had a stress fracture to my back, which kept me out for four months, then I came back in and ruptured a ligament in my foot and tried to come back at MK Dons a bit too early and unfortunately picked up a knock.

"But for me now I have got through the two games, a week of training and I am starting to feel stronger in myself and my performance on Saturday showed I am getting up to my match speed.”

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Report: Gills 0 Sunderland 2

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