Midfielder working hard to pick up less yellow cards
Gills midfielder Charlie Lee says he is hoping to improve his disciplinary record this season in order to help the side push for promotion.
Lee wore the captain’s armband in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge and said it was an honour to lead the team out.
Speaking after the game he said: “The gaffer pulled me yesterday [Friday] in training and told me he’s been happy with the way I’ve started pre-season and started games and that because Keds [Danny Kedwell] wasn’t playing I was going to be captain.
“Obviously it’s a real honour and I’ve enjoyed to today, hopefully I’ll get to do it again this season.”
Marti n Allen said before the game that it was going to be a tricky encounter for the squad, and Lee said the players knew what to expect and reacted accordingly.
He said: “You know what you’re going to get here, they make it very, very tough but we did exactly what we thought we would and come here and got the result.
“Parts of the game we had to dig in and we’ve done that. We haven’t let many in, we’ve dug in, we’ve scored more and we’ve won the games and that’s all that matters.”
Lee is encouraged by the positive start the Gills have made and says confidence is high in the camp, he said:
“We had such a good pre-season - it was brilliant, hard, but it was very good and we took a real confident attitude going into the game. We knew what we could get, we looked at the four games coming up and thought that we could get four wins out of it and we’ve come and done it. We’re really proud of that and we’re really happy going into Tuesday’s game.
“To be honest Bristol City have won today, Bradford City have won their next two games so we’ve not beaten any mugs, we’ve beaten good teams.”
The midfielder summed up his own performances and progress since signing permanently for the club last summer, he said:
“Last season I had a tough start, found it hard and maybe gave myself too much to do. I probably thought I could come down and find it a lot easier than I actually did.
“I got into form after Christmas but then had injuries and suspensions. You play a couple of good games then you’re out and then you have another good game and you’re out and it’s not the right way to do it.
Finally Lee spoke about his disciplinary record – he picked up more yellow cards than any other Gills player last season and says he will be doing everything possible to ensure he is available for selection more often this time around.
He said: “This year I’m trying to not get booked and trying to keep myself available to be picked and it’s helped me I’ve played in all four wins and I’ve probably played better in these four games than I did all last season.
“The gaffer made it clear that I couldn’t get booked as many times as last year. There’s only one person to blame for all the bookings and that’s me. I won’t be getting booked that many times this year because I let the team down. It was honest mistakes but you can change that and I will do this year.
“I want to win the ball at times when I shouldn’t and I need to realise when to go. Sometimes my honesty gets me booked because I chase after balls I shouldn’t be chasing after. It might look good to the fans and I feel like I’m doing the right thing but I’m not.
“I’ve tried to control that this pre-season and the gaffer has made a big thing of helping me and in these four games it shows that its working.”