by Joé Weimerskirch, reporter

 

Gillingham coach Steve Lovell has suspended a number of his players after their 3-1 loss against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday.

The Gills are under intense pressure to beat bottom-of-the-table Bradford City on Saturday, having won only 3 of their last 14 games.

After the 3-1 mid-week loss, Lovell said: “The chairman said it was embarrassing, I totally agree with him, it was embarrassing. People not trying, not wearing the badge with pride, it was disrespectful to the supporters.”

After an inconsistent start to the season that has seen them now lose to relegation favourites Plymouth and beat promotion favourites Portsmouth, Lovell decided the time was right to make fundamental changes to the team.

He said: “I’ve sent some players home, I’ve actually told them to go away and not be around the football club. The chairman has given me full backing to do that.”

He added: “I told them to go home and sort themselves out.”

Fan favourite Tom Eaves, also apologised to the fans for the team’s poor performance.

Eaves desperately wants his team to start winning again, and thinks that it is time for his team to stick together.

He said: “We need each other right now. We need to unite more than anything.”

“We’ve got to go and get results, we need to do it for the manager and the fans. We have to go out there and give absolutely everything.”

As Gillingham is fighting to escape the bottom of the table, the team desperately needs to come away with all three points when they host Bradford City this weekend.

Lovell’s and Gillingham’s long-term futures are unclear, but chairman Paul Scally and players have given their full support to him.

In the wake of the 3-1 defeat to Plymouth, Scally offered the 254 fans who travelled to see the match a free ticket to a future home game.