Martin Allen says the performance will change for the visit of the Premiership new boys
Martin Allen says he will field his strongest side on Tuesday for the visit of Crystal Palace and hopes the squad can produce their best form to try and achieve a positive result.
, with the Manager conceding he “hadn’t enjoyed” the first half performance, but he insists this will change for the visit of the Premiership newcomers.3-1 defeat at the hands of Millwall at Priestfield on SaturdayThe Gills suffered a
He said: “It will be a test of the squad – Crystal Palace are in the Premier League. I don’t mind if we don’t win but I do mind if we don’t play our way and Saturday we didn’t play our way and how Gillingham play.
“This will change and on Tuesday we will put out our strongest team and we will put on a performance for the people who come and watch to make them proud.
“Saturday we didn’t quite do that.”
Martin said he spoke to the players following the game and they said they were just unable to get in to top gear.
He added: “They are key people so I don’t make any decisions without asking them, I get feedback from them because they are the ones who go over the white line.
and we outplayed them.
Ipswich they were superb“The players said they just couldn’t get up to full speed or get going. Friday in training they were fantastic and against
“It’s not time to be despondent, it’s time to help them and support them and get them back to the high performance level that we know they have got.
“They can all play in a winning team; we all saw that last year and they all will do. They can all play in the starting 11; there is no doubt about that.
“I always believe in them and what we have.”
Martin was encouraged with the performance of his new players and insists the entire squad will be needed for the season ahead.
He added: “Bayo has worked tremendously hard, he’s a great character and a great personality – I really like him and it was a great goal. A good cross from Joe and its good for Bayo and for the supporters.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t get one more back because I was thinking we would go on and beat them because they were finished.
“The German did well, the young boys did well – the fresh legs were full of running power and I thought we played some good stuff and we took it to them.
“It’s a pre-season friendly, it’s a training game and a game we need to use and get fit and prepare for a couple of weeks’ time when the challenges really start.
“I’m not going to ask them to train like we ask them to train and then not do anything – I give them reward for their good work and the squad plays.”
here.To watch Martin's post match press conference following Saturday's game click
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