Gills boss says his players need to carry on working hard to maintain league position
Peter Taylor insists there is still work to be done by him and his players despite a fantastic 2-1 win over Carlisle on Saturday afternoon.
Goals from Joe Pigott and Cody McDonald sealed all three points for the first time at Brunton Park in over two decades to maintain the Gills top half position in the league table.
However, although the team do not have a game for another 10 days, Taylor said the players will not be getting a lot of time off.
He said: “We are going to work because until we are guaranteed League One at least we will carry on working extremely hard.
“The players might be thinking about a few days off, but I can assure you they’re not.”
McDonald has now scored seven goals in his last eight games for the club, and Taylor believes opposition defences are worried by his presence up front.
He said: “He worked his socks off all afternoon, he had to do a lot of chasing in the second half and it was fantastic for him to get that opportunity [the goal].
“I think they were very nervous about him, he’s in good form so centre halves are always going to be very wary of him.
“He’s looking very quick over ten yards and he’s not giving centre halves any time. They are looking at him as well as the ball so it’s great for us that he’s in such good form and it’s probably no coincidence that because he’s playing all the time he’s enjoying himself.
“What people don’t see is the amount of work he does for the team. It’s not just getting goals; he plays in midfield and out wide so he’s doing a great job for us.”
Peter made four changes to the side that were beaten by Stevenage during the week, one of which being the inclusion of Pigott who took his opportunity with both hands.
Peter was impressed with the striker and explained why he made alterations to the starting 11.
He added: “Very good finish from Joe and I thought some of his hold up play was very good aswell. I’m delighted for him and I’m sure he’s pleased – he has come here with us on loan to get some good match experience.
“We know he’s a good finisher and I think he showed everything about him in that goal.
“I’m fortunate enough to work with the players in the week and I see the ones who are a touch tried and may need a little rest. They are a great bunch and all deserve to play but we can only start 11 unfortunately.”
Gills were denied a clean sheet in the closing stages when a cross from Matt Robson was diverted past the helpless Stuart Nelson by Leon Legge, but Peter explained what a difficult position the defender was in.
He said: “I think it was an early ball, I’m not over the moon about it but I’ll need to take another look.
“I just think it was early and maybe he could have adjusted his position and not come over so early. He was always running towards his own goal so it’s a little bit of a problem, what do you do? Do you leave it?
“If you leave it, it goes to somebody so you have to head it.
“To be fair to Leggy he headed things away all afternoon, he headed that one and all but unfortunately in the net!”
To read Peter’s immediate post match thoughts click here.