Gillingham manager Steve Evans says quitting his job would be the easy option.

Evans believes it would be easier to walk away from the Gills rather than face up to the current challenge.

The Gills lost 5-1 at Rotherham as his patched up team struggled with 10 men in the latter stages against the League 1 leaders. His side have now lost their last four games - without a win in seven - and are 22nd in the table.

Hampered by a seemingly never ending run of injuries, his squad is so depleted they are down to 11 professionals, including two goalkeepers.

“I don’t think I have had to field as weak a team in 20 years,” said Evans, who may have even less options this weekend. He has been using an ever-increasing amount of youth players to beef up his squad but is still unable to fill the bench.

“It is hard to take and it seems that every game we are losing one or two, we just need to think about what is right to do and what is not right to do.

“If you feel how I did after (Tuesday’s defeat) you would get on a plane to Dubai and go there for a couple of weeks, but you go home, reflect, wake up and I have never quit anything in my life.

“We are not rats, we don’t jump off a ship that is maybe on the way down, you stay and you fight and you organise and get efficient. I will be down and so will the players and (stand-in skipper) Stuart O’Keefe was in the dressing room shaking his head.”

More on the Gills;

• Evans: ‘I have never known anything like it’

• Gills boss out of options as Rotherham hit five

The Gills lost Max Ehmer to a dislocated shoulder on Tuesday night, John Akinde didn’t come out for the second half after feeling a hamstring, they had Ryan Jackson sent off and the first choice keeper Jamie Cumming was absent with Covid.

Rhys Bennett travelled but wasn’t fit enough to play and David Tutonda’s return to training ended with another injury setback. Captain Kyle Dempsey, leading scorer Vadaine Oliver are among those missing.

But Evans said: “The last thing you do is quit. I have never quit anything in my life.

“If I am losing at Scrabble with my daughters I turn the board over. I am not going to get beat am I?! The situation we are in now, it would be easier to walk away than stay, easier.

“The bottom line is we need to regroup.

“We have lost 5-1 at Rotherham and they are flying high and bringing Shane Ferguson on and Will Grigg, and players like that, they are special players and would play for any team in this league. What we need to do is not take it personally, sit with cool heads and think it through and put a plan in place to go to Fleetwood (on Saturday).”