Gillingham Manager Mark Stimson is disappointed to only pick up one point as the Gills draw 1-1 with Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Ground.

The Gills took the lead through a John Nutter headed in the 38th minute but Rovers equalised with six minutes remaining, thanks to a wonder strike from defender Steve Elliott, and Stimson admits the result is a hard one to take: "You have to admit that it was a fantastic strike.  How the lad ended up in that area of the pitch, what with him being a left-sided centre-half, I don't know and that is something we will have to look at on the DVD.  It was a great strike and the boys depleted a little bit as they thought they had done enough to hang on for the win.  We had to weather a big storm for the first 20 minutes as Bristol Rovers know the pitch better than us.  They know how to play it and we tried to get on with it.  After the first 20 minutes, we got back into the game and looked quite good.  It was great to see one wingback crossing the ball and the other one scoring.  That shows the three at the back is a positive formation and it allows the other seven outfielders to go forward and enjoy themselves.  It was good to keep the lead at half-time as we have been ahead recently and then been behind at half-time.  I am gutted by that strike that pegged us back.  We have to brush ourselves down again as we have got six points to play for.  That is what we are trying to get and if that is enough to keep us up, then it will be fantastic.

"The boys have taken the draw hard.  They had mud on their shirts and shorts as they gave everything and put their bodies on the line.  They gave 110 per cent and I think they have done that in the last eight or nine games.  Whether it is too late, only time will tell.

"I felt that we were still lucky to be in the game after the first 20 minutes.  Derek Stillie pulled off a good save and they also had a couple of decent half-chances.  After that though, we got back into it and we maybe could've got a second goal.  It is hard to take because their goal was so good.  If they had scored from a different situation, it might have been a different answer."

Central midfielder Stuart Lewis and striker Gary Mulligan both returned to the 16 and Stimson was pleased with the performance of both players: "The people that travelled to Bristol, they saw the Stuart Lewis that I know.  I thought he was absolutely outstanding.  He covered every blade of grass and he looked a player when he had the ball.  He got himself a nice booking for rattling into someone as well.  He is a very competitive midfield player, a young one at that as well, and I am sure if he continues to play like that, it will be hard to take him out of the team because his performance was good.

"Things were made more difficult for this game as Dennis Oli suffered a reoccurrence of his head injury from last week.  Dennis had to have a brain scan on Friday and the results weren't too serious.  He was told he couldn't play against Bristol Rovers as he had bangs on the head against both Millwall and Swansea.  Dennis is a striker who scored last week and has been showing his best form in recent weeks.  When news like that hits you, you think you are up against it.  It does give somebody else an opportunity and I thought Georges Ba did okay.  There were one or two sloppy things but I think Georges won't have played on a pitch like that for years, probably going back to his childhood in the Ivory Coast.  Sometimes it is hard to adapt.  He put in his shift and then Gary Mulligan came on.  He has come back into the group as he has got a bit more league experience.  "Mullers" is a clever player and I said to him to go on and stay in the centre of pitch, don't go wide.  If he stays there, and we can find him, then he competes well and chases.  He did a good job and I am sure that he could be involved again next weekend.

The Gills have two matches remaining, against Swindon Town at the KRBS Priestfield Stadium on Saturday and away to Leeds United at Elland Road on the last day of the season, and Stimson explains that he won't be approaching either game different to any other: "There is no different attitude for the last two games.  I enjoy and only know, and only want to know, how to win football matches.  It is something that I have been used to but since November, things have been different.  It is hard to take at times on a Saturday evening.  We'll be approaching the week the same and will have one or two good sessions where the players hearts and lungs will be opened up and tested.  We'll then taper it down for the end of the week and hopefully come out on Saturday and put in a performance like we have in recent games.  We are not asking the boys to do anything different, as I think the performances have been good of late.  Hopefully we won't bump into a player with a sweet left foot or another centre-half like the one from Millwall who scored with a fantastic strike, and we can get the three points that we desperately all want.

"The game against Swindon Town is a must-win game.  It is the last home game of the season and you always want to try and finish your season at home with a win and on a high.  I said that to the players after the match.  We'll have at least six thousand fans there supporting us and they'll want someone to be a hero.  Let's get through the week in training and come out fighting on Saturday.  If we perform like we did against Swansea and like we did for 70-odd minutes against Rovers, then I am sure it will be enough to beat Swindon and touch wood, we'll still be in the hunt come the last game of the season against Leeds United at Elland Road.

"Lifting the players won't be hard if I am honest.  The hardest thing is to keep them calmed down a little bit as they will be pumping like they were before the last home game against Swansea.  I am sure with the backing of the supporters, the only information that Scott Barrett and I will need to tell them is be patient; don't think you have got to win the game in the first minute or first ten minutes.  Make sure we are sound at the back and we'll get our opportunities as we've got several strikers who want to score goals and come off the bench and impress.  We will be looking forward to the game come Monday morning and I am sure the crowd will be fantastic for our last home game.

"As I said to the boys in the huddle at the end of the game against Rovers, the Leeds game is a game that Scott and I are jealous of; to be able to play in a game like that, at a stadium like that, with possibly so much riding on the game.  They are the games that you really want to play in as they test you in every way, shape and form.  It's both a physical test and a mental test.  If we can win the game against Swindon and take it to Leeds, where people will probably be expecting us to lose by three, four or five goals, there are still a lot of twists and turns that can happen on the last day and we just hope that we are still in with a chance on that day."



The Gills took over 500 fans to the Memorial Ground and Stimson was again full of praise for the clubs supporters: "The fans that were at the game were absolutely outstanding.  To travel this distance, on not the best of days as a lot were on an open terrace with the rain and with a few disappointments on the road this year as they haven't seen too many wins, I am sure they'll say the team gave everything and unfortunately come away with a draw from a game that they could've won.  We have to look at the bigger picture, if we can keep the nucleus of this squad together then I am sure this club can go forward again and that is what we all want."