Neil Harris’ impact at Gillingham has been recognised in the February Sky Bet League 1 manager-of-the-month nominations.

Harris has helped to tighten up the Gills defence and given fans a glimmer of hope that the club might be able to escape from the drop.

During February, the Gills clinched wins over Crewe, Cambridge United and, most impressively, a 2-0 success at Lincoln to end the month.

The award citation said: “When Harris took over at the start of February, Gillingham had conceded 24 goals in their previous eight games.

“His impact has been immediate with four clean sheets and 11 points from seven matches to revive the Kent club’s survival hopes.”

During the month the Gills suffered two defeats, losing 1-0 at Ipswich Town despite an impressive performance and a 2-0 home loss to Plymouth Argyle that nobody could argue with.

Also up for the February award is MK Dons boss Liam Manning, Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore and Rotherham United’s Paul Warne.

The winning manager will be announced on Friday.