Andy Hessenthaler admits Gillingham's play-off hopes are all but over after crashing to a 2-1 home defeat to Dagenham.
Daggers substitute Dominic Green fired home his first goal of the season to hand the east Londoners victory, taking them nine points clear of the drop zone and to the brink of Football League safety.
The Gills have now won just once in their last six matches and are four points outside the play-off positions, and Hessenthaler admits his side must win their last four matches to stand a chance.
"They deserved to win and I'm pleased for them that they are safe now, but it's dented our chances of getting into the play-offs," he said. "It's made things really difficult. Realistically we have to win our last four games.
"You've got to earn the right to win the game and they stopped us from doing that. A few of our boys weren't on their game but that's not through lack of trying, we had a go but we got frustrated and a bit nervous.
"We've got to handle situations like that, perhaps some players can't. We weren't good enough, we didn't really get going. They came to frustrate us and make things difficult."
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