Gillingham play MK Dons this Saturday as they look to bounce back from home loss against Harrogate Town

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth is confident his team won’t go the way of those in the previous two seasons.

The Gills were on a club-record 21-game unbeaten run before losing 1-0 at home to Harrogate Town last Saturday, the first defeat for Ainsworth since taking charge of the team nine games before the end of last season.

Defeat saw the Gills lose their place at the top of League 2 and they now head to MK Dons for a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.

The Gills started last season in good form, top of the table in October, but suffered a slump and finished 17th. They held top spot in the opening two months of the previous season, too, but ended 2023/24 in 12th.

Ainsworth’s certain things will be different this time around.

He said: “There’ll be no one feeling sorry for themselves. There’ll be no one thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’.

“People can compare us with past years all they want. This is a different team. This is a Gillingham team that I’m in charge of and I will get the best out of every single week.

“That’ll mean running your socks off at MK Dons and trying to get as many goals as we can.

“We’ll go to win that game, as they always do. I’m proud of the boys and I’m glad they’re disappointed [after last Saturday] because that means it hurts. We’ll get back soon.

“It’s been a great run. In a way, it’s not the worst thing in the world to come off it.

“People are always saying, ‘When are they going to get off it? When’s it going to happen?’.

“It’s happened. I want to see the reaction now from fans, staff and players.

“I want to see the reaction of people but I’m super positive. I know we can go and beat anyone in this league.”

Bouncing back won’t be easy, with Ainsworth set to miss the trip to MK Dons due to