Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler hasn’t given up hope of making the play-offs despite Tuesday night’s defeat at Burton Albion.

Matt Fish’s own goal nine minutes into the second half seperated the two sides, giving Burton their first win since Boxing Day, whilst leaving The Gills seven points outside the play-offs with just seven games to go.

Despite the odds getting longer by the day, Hessenthaler believes his side still have a chance if they win six of their seven remaining games:

“We’re looking at six wins out of seven to confirm a place in the playoffs,” Hessenthaler told BBC Radio Kent.

“That’s the challenge and it’s a big challenge,”

The Gillingham boss will have his work cut out to find the right formula over the remaining five weeks of the season and will need to start with a win against Macclesfield at Priestfield this weekend.

As for the Burton game, Hessenthaler believes his side let themselves down and never really showed what they are capable of:

“I thought we were quite comfortable at half-time, no problems,” he said. “But second half we conceded the goal and dropped our heads. We didn’t pass the ball, we didn’t find any quality and the decision making was totally non-existent. We knew they were under pressure because of the run they’ve been on but we just couldn’t capitalise.”

“The only player to come out of it with any credit was the goalkeeper, who I thought was outstanding,” Hessenthaler added. “To be fair, he was unlucky for the goal because he made a great save but it’s come off Fishy and gone in.”

That own goal pretty much sums up Gillingham’s luck at the moment. When looking for a bit of luck to go their way, it just seems to be going against them at present.

A betting man (or woman for that matter) would probably gets good odds on Gillingham making the play-offs now, but Hessenthaler will surely shuffle his pack once again against Macclesfield to find the side that will get them back to winning ways.

Both Danny Spiller and Rowan Vine could be elevated into the starting eleven, whilst youngsters Jack Evans, Olly Lee and Ashley Miller should surely come back into contention after missing out in recent games.