Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler has stated his desire to keep hold of striker Jo Kuffour on a permanent basis.

Hessenthaler was speaking about the on loan striker after his second half brace helped them to a 2-1 win at Crawley Town.

The Gills found themselves a man up and a goal down at the break with Claude Davis sent off in the 19th minute for a late challenge on Kuffour, but Matt Tubbs put Crawley in front from the spot.

Crawley’s leading scorer hit his 15th of the season after Matt Lawrence was adjudged to have brought down Kyle McFadzean in the box.

Two goals in two second half minutes from Kuffour saw The Gills race into the lead and despite seeing substitute Luke Rooney sent off late on, Andy Hessenthaler’s side clung on for all three points.

Speaking after the game, Hessenthaler admitted he is determined to keep hold of Kuffour after his loan spell comes to an end after Friday’s game at Dagenham & Redbridge:

Hessenthaler said: “Our chairman (Paul Scally) is away for Christmas and hopefully something will be done when he’s back. We need Jo as we’re a bit low in numbers in forward areas.”

“He gives us a cutting edge and his second goal was a quality strike.”

Kuffour’s seven goals in a Gills shirt have certainly helped the side in his time on loan from Bristol Rovers and a deal could be done as soon as the transfer window opens on Sunday 1st January.

Meanwhile, Hessenthaler was also left to reflect on a bad injury to midfielder Chris Whelpdale, who required five stitches to a gashed testicle following a tackle from David Hunt.

He said: “It looked a horrendous cut and he must be a doubt for our match at Dagenham.”

“It was a bad challenge and he’s going to be pretty sore. I don’t suppose his missus will be happy either!”

Overall, Hessenthaler was delighted with his sides’ performance against the league leaders:

“I’m delighted with the win because we had to make four changes but it showed the depth of the squad we have.

“We made an explosive start to the second half and then we defended really well. Crawley were very brave even with 10 men and will definitely be up there at the end of the season.

“But we are capable of being involved too and want this run to continue for as long as possible.”

Right back Matt Fish could also miss the game after limping off in the first half with midfielder Lewis Montrose missing the Boxing Day game at the Broadfield Stadium with an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Crawley boss Steve Evans was less than pleased after seeing his side lose their unbeaten run that had run for fifteen games and over three months: “The best side lost.”

“If Gillingham come out and say anything different they are in cloud-cuckoo land. Had the match been an 11-versus-11 contest there would have only been one winner.

“We’re disappointed to have lost but we’ll get the players in and we’ll go again. These kinds of games are not easy ones for us. You saw the reaction from Gillingham. Their celebrations were as though they had won the World Cup.”

Gills fans have to take a lot of credit for their support of their side as they came out in their numbers to cheer on the team. Over 1,300 made the trip to the less than impressive stadium and their vocal influence went a long way to ensuring Gillingham are now nine games unbeaten going into Friday’s trip to Essex.