After last weekend’s 2-2 draw with table topping Luton Town in which he inadvertently played a significant role in both sides’ opening goals, Gillingham midfielder Callum Reilly had been talking about one of the side’s best performances of the season before a week when the club will play two of the current bottom three.

“The result for us in the end was brilliant and one that we all firmly believed that we could get and achieve,” Reilly told KSN this week.

“Obviously to be going in a goal down considering we’d worked so hard was tough especially as the goal for myself and the team was an unfortunate thing to happen.”

“It hasn’t happened to me before and I hope that it will be a long time before it does again – it was more (looking back) something that you do as a reflex in the moment and it was just a freak. I’m just happy that I was able to have the opportunity that I did to get us back into the game at 1-1 (supplying the cross for Tom Eaves to score) and just to be part of the team that took a lot of confidence out of the point at the end.”

“We’re still delighted at what we did on the day – I know the manager is and the fans has a good day out – and that’s something we’ll take into this week at AFC Wimbledon.”

That was the Gills top scorer’s nineteenth goal of the season and Reilly was quick to admit just how vital the striker is to the side’s survival chances.

“Eavsey is going to be massively important to us and I thought it was nice for us to start putting chances for him instead of him having to create worldies for himself which he’s had to do throughout this season. And so, if we can start creating some chances for him as a team – and we did put some brilliant crosses in during the first half and I was able to put that one in during the second half,” he said.

After the leaders is back to life at the bottom and the ridiculously tight for survival in League One. Reilly told us, “I’ve been at other clubs and have had to deal with highs and lows with teams that are doing really well and teams that aren’t – it’s football at the business end of the season.”

“Everyone around the club is encouraged by the displays that we’ve put in over the last couple of months and with the players who have come in since the turn of the year and have done well in the team with results like Saturday’s against teams doing well in the League and impressing.”

“This gives us confidence and belief that we can take forward and try to put into the games that we’ve got left which is when it’s really important. The dynamics of these games are that when you play a Luton who are playing full of confidence at home and flying, so the dynamics of that game are different to going to AFC Wimbledon or Rochdale here the following week that are both going to be really tight affairs.”

“We need to be a bit braver and show the qualities that we’ve shown against the better teams – we need to show them in these games as well. You’ve got to be prepared at some points as players that you’re going to make mistakes, but we’ve got to focus on getting the ball down and play well which shows that we are a good team.”

“It’s going to be tough, but we’ll have our fans behind us, and we know that we’re going to have to play well, but we know how important the result is. It is mad and mental at the bottom of the table and so different to previous years in terms of how the set ups are going to be in the run in, but a lot of the teams down there still have to play each other which is well documented and so I do believe things will begin to even themselves out in the next few weeks.”

“To prove it, our next two games are going to go a long way to determining where we’re going to finish this year – two positive results and then that will see us go a lot higher up the table… hopefully!”