Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler has conceded his side can ill afford to lose again this season if they want to make the play-offs.

Tuesday night’s defeat to Crawley Town has left them ninth in League Two, four points adrift of Oxford United in the last play-off place and with just nine games left this season, facing an uphill battle to claim a spot in the top seven.

Next up for The Gills is a trip to Bradford City at the weekend with the Bantams scrapping for their League Two future near the foot of the table, but for Hessenthaler it is all about three points:

“There’s a 10-team league here and if I’m honest I don’t think we can really lose another game because we need to finish top

of that mini league, but we can definitely do it.”

“The last home game we lost, we bounced back straight away, so we’ve got to go and do that at Bradford now.”

Victory at Bradford could put them back within a point of Oxford if results go Gillingham’s way, but defeat could see them seven points behind and seemingly facing a mountain to climb.

Hessenthaler will have Lewis Montrose back available after serving his two match suspension and The Gills boss told BBC Radio Kent after Tuesday’s defeat how he could change the side to get the win:

“We just have to keep plugging away and maybe the games just caught up with the guys, especially some of the younger ones,

so perhaps I just need to freshen it up.”

That could see the likes of Connor Essam demoted to the bench with skipper Andy Frampton now back available once again.

Meanwhile, the loan window closes on Thursday evening with Gillingham unlikely to conduct any business, either in or out of Priestfield.