Gills boss delighted to reward supporters with three points after fantastic display over Swindon at Priestfield
Peter Taylor said he couldn’t be happier following the 2-0 win over Swindon at Priestfield on Saturday.The Manager asked for a response from his players during the week after a disappointing result at Colchester, and goals from Leon Legge and Michael Harriman ensured the Gills got back to winning ways in convincing style.
Speaking after the game Peter said: “We know the level that we’re at and we know there are some very good teams in this division and if you don’t defend as a team then teams are good enough to open you up.
“Pritchard is a great little player and if there is a hole there then he will find it, he’s a good player.
“I said to them in the week that it must be easier to keep a clean sheet than score a goal. It must be because that’s why the top players earn that much money.
“The thing I will accept is us being hard to play against, if it means we don’t win, as long as we are hard to play against and work hard as a team then I will accept that.
“I couldn’t be happier; as long as people run around enough with desire then as the Manager you’re happy. Saturday they did that and we got a result aswell.
“The energy levels looked a lot more impressive than I probably would have thought two or three months ago.
"That shows it’s what you have to do, I think it’s the modern game and you have to have some athletes in the team.
“At any level you certainly have to have the experience but you have to have energy so the balance is looking OK. There were lots of plusses and that’s very pleasing.”
Adebayo Akinfenwa, Elliott Hewitt and Myles Weston all returned to the starting line-up, and Peter said it was encouraging to see all three players put in a positive display.
He said: “Elliott hasn’t played for a long time and the last game he played was against Stevenage so he did great to do 90 minutes.
"Myles Weston got a bit of cramp, he did well. It wasn’t his day in some ways but he still worked for the team.
Bayo gave everything he had and I didn’t think he could do much more.”
Bradley Dack and Craig Fagan came off the subs bench in the second half and impressed as the Gills looked to grab a second goal, and Peter was delighted to see them make an impact.
He added: “It's never easy because sometimes you don’t want to make a change because you don’t want anybody in the ground thinking it’s a negative one and thinking you’re hanging on to a 1-0 win.
“Myles Weston was getting cramp in his calf so that was an easy one - I think both of the substitutes did great; Bradley’s energy levels are fantastic and all he needs is a bit of discipline when we haven’t got the ball to make sure he’s in the right areas.
“Craig played like a clever, experienced centre forward when he came on. He played a couple of people in and Cody nearly scored as soon as he had come on.
“We knew Swindon would take the chance of going forward so we were hoping there might be more gaps.
“They have all been waiting for a chance – they are a very good group to work with. Sometimes it’s hard to pick a team because you want to play more players as they have such a good attitude but that’s the way to answer everything.
“If you get selected for the team – go and prove it, go and play well.”
Watch Peter's post match interview here.