Gillingham boss Neil Harris preparing to take the club to the next level and relegation won't stop him

Neil Harris has reiterated that he’ll be carrying on as Gillingham manager whatever the outcome of their relegation fight.

Ten weeks into the job and with two games to go, Harris has seen nothing to change his mind about a long-term project at Gillingham, which was what first attracted him to the Priestfield role.

He has managed to lift the club from the depths of the League 1 relegation zone - 10 points adrift when he took charge - to within a chance of staying in the third tier with two big game remaining.

Ahead of their big game at Portsmouth this Saturday, he said: “I took the challenge on knowing that really we were 11 points adrift, with an horrific goal difference, I knew what the challenge was and I made the decision that I was coming for the project, and would be here no matter what league we are in next year.

“I can only embrace the challenge and enjoy it and say, ‘well, I am here next year no matter what, so why not just enjoy it?’

“I do get frustrated at times because I want us to be better, I want us to see games out, unlike at Cheltenham, I want more players available, I don't want an injury record that we have got associated to my football club but I can’t control them at the moment, if I can’t control it why get angry about it? Why not embrace it and enjoy it.”

The Gills have drawn their last three games but sit a place and a point above the bottom four ahead of their last two games. There was disappointment at the dropped points but Harris was quick to focus on their achievements.

He said: “I have had to remind the players of some stats. Had the season started on February 1 [when Harris was appointed] then we would be 12th in the table and that is credit to the players.

“We have had seven clean sheets