Gillingham finally gave their caretaker management team the win they deserved on Saturday.

That was the verdict of centre-back John Egan after the Gills climbed back out of the League 1 drop zone with a late show to see off Coventry at Priestfield.

Egan praised the bold approach and impact of caretaker coaches Andy Hessenthaler, Steve Lovell, Darren Hare and Mark Patterson.

“They have been great and they have given us the lease of life to go forward and to play attractive football if we can,” said Egan.

“They have put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes. They don’t just come in on a Saturday and take over, they are like the manager.

“During the week they are trying to sort out training and players and doing everything on top of their own jobs. You have to hand it to them.

“Since they came in we hadn’t won but we had some good performances. Thankfully we could repay them at last.”

As players, it’s about getting on with the job and Egan added: “Every manager is different and as a player you just have to keep your head down and work hard, trying to win a place in the team or keeping it.”

Gillingham have been led by the four-man coaching team following Peter Taylor’s sacking on New Year’s Eve.

All four have been ruled out of the running to take over permanently by chairman Paul Scally and while Hare has enjoyed the challenge, he will be glad when things return to normal. That could happen any day as Mr Scally weighs up his options.

“It has not been easy and in some ways, having the four has helped us to make decisions,” said Hare.

“We have had healthy debate about what teams we are going to pick and how we are going to play but for me, the chairman is doing right, the next appointment has got to be the right one."

Read the full story in Monday's Medway Messenger