Adrian Pennock will be hoping Walsall do Gillingham a favour on Tuesday night and help them retain their League One status.

A win for Walsall at home to Port Vale will be enough to keep The Gills in football’s third tier for another season, where even a draw may be enough going into the final round of games this season on Sunday.

Vale’s 2-0 loss at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday tempered Gillingham’s 3-2 defeat against Fleetwood Town at Priestfield having been in a 2-1 lead.

That kept Port Vale four points behind the Kent side with a game in hand, leaving Pennock’s side in pole position, sitting 20th in League One, just outside the relegation places.

Having watched his side surrender another winning position and concede another three goals, Pennock was critical of the way his side had failed to hang on for a win:

“I thought we played well today against a good side, and we gave a good account of ourselves. But we gave them three goals and that’s been the case all season. The table doesn’t lie, but I was very pleased with the players, performance-wise”

“We would have definitely taken a 2-2 at the end of the game, because I felt we should have got something. It was an entertaining game for the neutral but a poor result for us.”

“The goals that we conceded – it’s phenomenal really, it’s bamboozling. I put the projector on in the changing room straight after the game and showed them what I witnessed – it’s just not acceptable.”

“It’s concentration that I think is the biggest problem.”

Turning his attention to Tuesday night’s game between Walsall and Port Vale, Pennock admitted he will be hoping the home side do The Gills a massive favour:

“We’re worrying about other teams now, and we’re relying on Walsall to do us a favour.”

“It should have been wrapped up already, but we’ve conceded so many late goals. We’ve still got a job to do next week against Northampton but we don’t want anything on it.”

“I’ve aged about 25 years since I’ve been here but by hook or by crook, we’ve got to get over the line and then go from here.”

These next few days will prove crucial for Gillingham fans as they hope they don’t have to travel to Northampton on Sunday knowing they will need a win to stay up.

With former Gills boss Justin Edinburgh now in charge of the Cobblers, there will be no favours shown to the Kent side.