Rene Howe shows his relief at the final whistle against Southampton on Saturday. Picture: Barry Goodwin

By Luke Cawdell

Rene Howe has won many admirers for his performances so far but he acknowledged the importance of goals after scoring his second for Gillingham on Saturday.

"Scoring means the world to me," said the 23-year-old forward, after netting Gills’ opener against Southampton.

"I’ve struggled with goals but my performances have been good, so I haven’t really been that bothered about it.

"If someone wasn’t coming to the games they would think, ‘well, what’s he done?’ but people who have been watching and playing around me know I do other things as well, like bring others into play and assist."

Howe’s other goal for Gillingham came in the 3-0 victory over Southend a month ago. Some top performances, however, have kept him in the team as an ever present.

The on-loan Peterborough striker was delighted to help the Gills to another impressive home win but admitted the shine was taken off after realising those three points weren’t enough to seal their place in League 1.

"It was a good win and the lads battled hard," he said. "It was just disappointing that the other results didn’t go our way.

"It was a downer but we won and played well and all we need to do now is get a point away from home. We’ve done it before and it’s a big plus that we don’t have to win."

Read the full story in Monday's Medway Messenger

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