Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler admitted after the 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley that his side aren’t playing to their full potential.

Ian Craney put the visitors in front in the 84th minute, but Luke Rooney’s spot kick ensured the home side snatched a point at Priestfield.

It was a largely lifeless first half and the second half was little better with most of the action happening in the last ten minutes of the game and in the end Hessenthaler admitted he was happy to have secured a draw:

He said: A point was a fair result. I don’t think we deserved to lose even though we conceded late on. I can’t fault their effort, but there’s something missing from our play at the moment.

“There’s no excuses, we’re not firing like we should be firing, but we can’t hide behind anything. There’s a bit of quality missing in the final third.”

Hessenthaler was honest in his appraisal of his side but conceded they really needed to bring in another striker to give them more cutting edge up top:

“I thought we defended fine, but neither keeper has been tested. We need to improve and quickly, and if we find what’s missing we’ll get back to where we should be. We’re not pleased, but it’s not a matter of life or death.

“We’ve got a good squad of players but they are not firing. We got off to a good start in the first month, but now we’ve got to go and win our next three games. There’s no reason why we can’t do that.”

The first of those is against Southend United at Roots Hall on Tuesday night with a trip to Hereford United to come at the weekend.

Hessenthaler will be concerned that striker Danny Kedwell limped off down the tunnel after winning the penalty near the end of the game.

With Adam Birchall, Jack Payne and Paulo Gazzaniga all sidelined, the last thing Hessenthaler needs is another on the treatment table.