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Gillingham hit their target in opening month of League 2 campaign ahead of Rotherham United match

09:15, 24 August 2011

Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler is not getting carried away with their impressive start to the season.

The Gills are unbeaten in their opening four games and sit third in the League 2 table – joint on points with leaders Crawley.

Andy Hessenthaler
Andy Hessenthaler

Hessenthaler’s side last season took twice as long to reach the current points total.

"It’s a good start for us and we have got targets each month," said Hessenthaler. "We have got one more game this month and we could go above our target. Let’s hope we do at Rotherham.

"People can work out two points per game will get you promotion. We have targets each month and it’s obvious we have got that this month. Now we want to go above that by getting a result at Rotherham next week."

Gillingham haven’t started a campaign so well since the 1995/96 season, when they won their opening four games in the old Division 3.

"That’s nice, but it’s just a good start," stated Hessenthaler. "We are solid and there is a real togetherness. Last year we didn’t get carried away when we weren’t winning, some people did, we never did.

"We said we had to work harder and we could turn it around. This year we have got off to a far better start but that’s all it is. We have made a decent start but we have another 42 games yet – a long way to go."

The Gillingham squad are without a midweek match for the first time since the start of the season, giving players such as Chris Whelpdale (dead leg) valuable recovery time.

"The players are looking forward to it and so am I, as you can recover," said the Gills boss.

Whelpdale is closing in on a return to the squad.

"He is touch and go for Rotherham and is quite sore," Hessenthaler added. "It depends what sort of week he has."

Picture: Barry Goodwin

Do you think the Gills can maintain their current form? Comment below.

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