Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler has promised changes after his sides 2-1 loss to Southend United at Priestfield on Monday night.

A Liam Dickinson strike on ten minutes was followed up with a Joe Martin own goal just after the half hour mark, leaving The Gills with a mountain to climb.

Even though Gavin Tomlin bagged his fifth goal in just three games with three minutes left on the clock, Gillingham couldn’t find that all elusive equaliser and once again they tasted defeat.

That makes it five defeats in a row for Hessenthaler’s side and he has now promised to go with some new players as they look to get back to winning ways:

He said: “It is time for changes. You can’t keep going on the way we are.

“Whether I can go and freshen it up and bring a couple of fresh faces in, I will speak to the chairman.

“Jonathan Fortune is an option. He has been training with us for a week and we will see because he is looking for a club. I have to find the right formula and I am not finding it at the moment.

“The buck stops with me. I am devastated at the moment because we are on a bad run and I want to get this club back to where it should be.” he said to the club’s official website.

Three players that did impress on Monday were goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, Jack Evans and Connor Essam. The trio made their home league debuts with the latter pair coming off the bench when it had been expected that they would start against Southend.

With a trip to Port Vale to come on Saturday, Hessenthaler will be looking to spend the rest of the week trying to find that formula to success.