Steve Lovell has delivered a clear message to his Gillingham players after they secured a vital point away at Luton this weekend.

The Hatters are five points clear at the top of the table, but Tom Eaves and Luke O'Neill ensured the battling Gills earned a share of the spoils, and Lovell now feels their future is in their own hands.

O'Neill scored a wonderful 25-yard free kick to cancel out Jack Stacey's strike, with Eaves earlier levelling after Danny Hylton's opener for the Hatters.

Lovell's side are two points clear of the bottom four, sat in 16th place and one of 12 teams that could find themselves in trouble as the games run out.

He was delighted with his side's performance, but more importantly urged them to kick on with some key games approaching.

“It is unbelievable,” he told the Kent Messenger. “It was an excellent performance on Saturday and we got something from the league leaders who are on a tremendous run."

“There are still eight games to go and it is so tight but it is in our hands. We have four games at home, including Rochdale, Plymouth, Shrewsbury, all big games against bottom-half sides."

The Gills face AFC Wimbledon this weekend, who climbed off the bottom of the table for the first time in 2019 with a win away at Southend.

The Verdict

Gillingham will stay up. It's a bold statement, but they've got the favourable fixtures and they've got quality in patches.

There's teams out of form who will be much more concerned, but if they play as they did this weekend for the rest of the season, they'll be fine.