The top half of the League One table is very congested as we head into the business end of the season, with just nine points separating the nine teams between third and 11th.

Gillingham find themselves at the bottom of that group and are eight points outside the top seven, meaning that if a play-off finish is not out of their reach completely, it is very unlikely.

That is not to say the Gills shouldn't be pleased with the progress they have made, however, as they're just five points short of their total in the 2018/19 campaign with 12 games still to go.

They have improved hugely on the defensive side and that in part has been down to how well they've tackled this season.

With that in mind, we've outlined their top seven tacklers as per Whoscored...

Byrne was a key man in central midfield in the early part of the season, making 18 appearances before suffering a knee injury in December.

As well as being useful in possession, the 31-year-old worked hard defensively–averaging 1.5 tackles per game.

The 20-year-old has broken through to the first team in the 2019/20 campaign and become a regular fixture.

The centre-back has been solid this season and averages 1.6 tackles per game.

Jones arrived on loan from Southampton in the summer and has been a key player for the Gills.

The 22-year-old defensive midfielder has been a key man in the League One side's build-up play, averaging the third-most passes per game this season.

Without the ball, he has been effective as well, averaging 1.7 tackles per game.

Fuller may be 35 but his importance to Gillingham should not be underestimated.

The right-back has been a regular fixture in the side, contributing two assists and averaging 1.7 tackles per game.

O'Keefe has spent much of the season in the Gills engine room, breaking up play and keeping things ticking over in midfield.

The defensive midfielder has featured 29 times in League One and averages 1.9 tackles per game.

Another Southampton loanee that has impressed for Gillingham this season, O'Connor

Young players often struggle with the physical side of the game in League One but the Irishman hasn't had that problem and averages 2.2 tackles per game, the second-most in the squad.

This will likely surprise a lot of people given Roberts was brought in during the January transfer window to score goals but it seems he is a hard worker out of possession as well.

The Ipswich Town loanee tops the Gillingham squad in average tackles per game with 2.3 but appears to be a slightly clumsy tackler, as he also averages the most fouls per game–2.7.