Andy Hessenthaler believes Gillingham’s 2-0 win over Torquay United on Saturday could be the start of a play-off push.

The win over the Gulls ended a run of seven games without a win and has lifted The Gills back up to tenth in League Two, just six points outside the play-offs with a game in hand.

Simon King’s first goal for The Gills in over three years was followed up by another Danny Kedwell spot kick in the dying seconds of the game and Hessenthaler was thrilled at the full time whistle:

“It was a massive win,” he said. “I felt that performance and result had been coming. We deserved more than we got from our last few performances so it was good to get that three points when you deserve it.

“We are not going to give up on the play-offs, just because we didn’t get a win for a while and had a bad spell it doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about it. We will stay positive.” he told the club’s official website.

“People can write us off and maybe people were looking forward to playing us but not now. I think we are a dangerous side and we will kick-on from here.”

Having changed his entire defence three games ago, Hessenthaler has taken a leap of faith in some youngsters, but it was King who he had special praise for after an injury plagued couple of years:

“That took the pressure off, King’s goal was crucial. Considering he was ready to quit the game because of ankle problems, he was tremendous.”

“I will have to manage his injury much like Ledley King at Spurs and I will leave it to him to decide whether he is ready to play against Hereford on Tuesday.”

It will take something quite remarkable for King to not want to play against Hereford at Priestfield on Tuesday night.

On this showing, Hessenthaler seems to have finally found the right formula that might just sneak back into the play-offs come the end of the season.