Oli Hawkins on the battles he is facing playing upfront for Gillingham in League 2

Gillingham striker Oli Hawkins admits it’s been tough to keep his cool with defenders hanging off him every match.

The big Gills striker rarely gets a decision from the officials in his favour and that’s not been a surprise to the player who previously played centre-half for Mansfield Town, enabling him to see difference in decision-making at either end of the pitch.

He said: “I know the advantage always lies with the centre-half. Because I am tall, defenders feel like they have to grab me, there will be games when referees just don’t give you any decisions and it looks like a really tough job for me, and it has been in the last few weeks.

“Not many people play both positions but 100% I know you get more lenience. The advantage lies with the centre-half and I do feel like most games I come off unlucky.

“I probably do get frustrated a lot, knowing ‘here we go again’, but I tend not to throw my arms around a lot and moan, because it doesn’t look great. As soon as I do get fouled and it’s not given I just move onto the next one, then the next one and think maybe I will get the next one. It is hard to keep the frustration in really, I do get frustrated, anyone would, but I just have to get on with it and do what I can.

“I do find it out very quickly in a game what kind of referee I might be dealing with, maybe sometimes I might have to change onto a different defender, but mostly in this league and the way we play and the type of striker I am, every defender, every person I go near are going to want to grab me just because of my size. They are a afraid, they don’t want to give me a free header, so they are always going to try that little bit harder against me.

“It is something I just have to get on with and deal with. I