Peter reflects on Notts County performance
Peter Taylor said he couldn’t fault the commitment of his players following Saturday’s defeat to Notts County, but says the team need to be more effective going forward.The Magpies sealed a 3-1 win thanks to a brace from Callum McGregor and a late strike from Jack Grealish, but only after Bradley Dack, who had levelled proceedings at 1-1, hit the post and Bayo Akinfenwa was denied twice from close range.
The visitors were unlucky not to be in front at one stage, and Peter was asked if, on another day, whether the Gills would have clinched victory.
He said: “I think probably Gillingham has had too many of those this season, on another day, and we have got to make sure the match day is the important day and you’ve got to get something out of it.
"At the start we were trying to play a bit more Football and I think we created a couple of good chances, and then at the end of the game it was a case of Notts County then trying to hang on for an important win under the new Manager so at times they were a bit deeper so, at times, direct play is more effective so we changed it a bit.
“Last Saturday I was disappointed with the team’s commitment in closing down but I certainly wasn’t disappointed with them Saturday on that, I thought they worked hard but we didn’t work effective enough.
“You want players to work extremely hard but you also know that just work isn’t going to be the answer. You need to be clever, defend properly and read situations quicker than the opposition.”
Peter decided to bring in Dack and Jake Hessenthaler for the game at Meadow Lane, and the Manager explained why he made that decision.
He said: “I thought we had a lack of legs against Rotherham and that’s why I made that change and to be fair to young Jake and Bradley they came in and ran all over the place.
“He [Hessenthaler] did OK, it’s not an easy place to come and play, not an easy game and not an easy team at the minute because of our situation but I thought Jake did ever so well.
“I thought Bradley Dack did well, I thought Charlie Lee on the ball kept going and going. I’m certainly not critical of the players work rate, I just felt as though at times our work has got to be put in better use.
“Bradley could have a hat-trick and that’s what he does, he gets in the box but I just felt he maybe should have taken one or two more chances. The one that hit the post you’re talking about being two yards out and I don’t think you can hit the post from there.
“That’s got to be a goal, if you get in those areas you’ve got to take advantage of them. We had the first really good move which was a header from Charlie Lee.
“We then had Dacky’s chance from a free kick where Danny Kedwell headed it across – I’m just amazed on two occasions that we didn’t score.”
You can watch Peter's post match press conference by clicking here.