Gills boss delighted as Dominic Samuel strikes to clinch club's third successive win
Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh declared his side's 1-0 victory over Colchester United as “the biggest and best” of the season.Dominic Samuel's 70th-minute strike made it three wins in the space of 10 days over Christmas for the Gills, but bottom of the league United more than played their part in the game.
“It was a tough encounter, I just said to the players that I think it's our biggest and best win of the season,” said Edinburgh. “People may have expected us to win comfortably, but I said beforehand it would be a tough encounter, and it certainly was that.
“The last game here we lost our unbeaten home record [against Burton Albion], so I was conscious of getting back on track, and the two fantastic away performances [at Millwall and Swindon] would have been wasted if we had lost. I suppose we had so much to lose, and not much to gain.”
Edinburgh made just one change to the starting line-up from Saturday's win at Swindon, with Max Ehmer replacing Deji Oshilaja, who picked up a knock in that game.
He added: “Maybe we didn't get out of first gear, but got better in the second half. I contemplated over the last 24 hours about making changes but we stuck with the same group.
"I think you have to go on what you know from being a player, and if I'd have been left out after contributing to the last two games I'd have been disappointed.
“Looking back, I think the last two games took a lot out of us, more than I realised. Maybe looking at it now, maybe I should have freshened it up a bit.”
The manager was also full of praise for goalkeeper Stuart Nelson, who produced two world class saves in the final five minutes to deny United striker Marvin Sordell.
“They were match-winning saves at crucial times,” said Edinburgh. “He took a blow at Swindon and looked like he would miss it today, but he had painkillers before the game, came through a fitness test and he's won us the points today.
“He's a vocal player around the dressing and with the young group of players, they need that influence and he's doing that right now."