The Gills manager reflects on Wednesday's game
Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh spoke to the press following Wednesday’s 1-1 pre-season draw against Billericay Town at New Lodge.
Bradley Dack’s 76th-minute opener looked like giving the Gills a second warm-up game victory in as many days, before the hosts levelled two minutes later. Here's what the manager had to say about the match.
JE on...the game: “It was more about attitude and application. The pitch wasn’t cohesive for passing, but they’re not always going to be, so we had to find a different route. Apart from a five-minute spell when Nels had to pull off some saves, we were in possession a lot of the time.
“The surface could have been better, but you have to overcome that with your attitude and application. I thought we did that – we probably found it hard to break them down on a slow pitch with long grass. But we scored a goal, got in good areas - perhaps we weren’t clinical with our final balls.
“We’ve picked up another knock, this time with Scott Wagstaff, which puts a dampener on the game. We’ll have to get that scanned, which is disappointing.
“But we got more minutes in the players, which sets us up nicely for a couple of games coming up in the next 10 days against league opposition [Barnet and Leyton Orient]. Those games are where the players can start stepping up and stake their claim for the start of the season.”
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JE on...the nature of friendlies: “We want friendlies to be competitive, they have to be. This is how it’s going to be on the first day of the season – you won’t get players stroking the ball across the back four in league games. It’s going to be frantic, that’s the nature of our league and that’s the purpose of these games. All tests were overcome tonight.”
JE on...Bradley Dack being involved: “His attitude has been immaculate, he’s been first class. He’s here, he’s looking like he’ll be here and that’s the way we’re planning it. He’s been with us for pre-season, he’s played the games.”
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