Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler has promised fans who travelled to Accrington their money back, courtesy of contributions from the players.

Some 261 away fans attended the League Two play-off chasers’ 4-3 defeat.

Hessenthaler told BBC Radio Kent: “We’ll pay for the supporters who came up this weekend. I feel really sorry for them.

“Every player in that dressing room will contribute towards the fans’ travel up here.”

He added: “They deserve better. They can’t come up here and pay their hard-earned money to see us do that.

“I feel really sorry for them, they travelled a long, long way on a cold day and they should be rewarded. We haven’t rewarded them so I think we should pay them back. We’ll pay for all the supporters coming up this weekend because it’s not acceptable.”

Hessenthaler concluded: “It would be easy for me to come out and hide behind things, it’s not my style, I’m passionate about the club. I’m hurt. We’re on a bad run. I always take full responsibility.

“I want to repay the fans on the pitch, we haven’t done that. We want to repay them and reimburse them for a long journey without a performance.”