Justin Edinburgh spoke to the media following his side's 2-1 victory against Northampton Town on Saturday
Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh described himself as ‘ecstatic’ following the Gills’ last-gasp victory at MEMS Priestfield Stadium against Northampton Town in Sky Bet League One on Saturday afternoon.
A header from John-Joe O’Toole had given the Cobblers the lead at half-time, however a neat finish from Max Ehmer and a delightful, curled finish from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in injury time gave the Gills a much needed victory, which moves them up to 17th in the Sky Bet League One table.
Edinburgh believed that Gillingham deserved all three points, and that the confidence boost it brings his team will stand the team in good stead moving forward to Brackley Town on Wednesday in the FA Cup.
Edinburgh on… earning the three points: “I’m relieved and I’m so pleased for the players and everybody connected with the football club. I didn’t think it was going to come, that it would be another game that we looked at and should have won.
“To get the goal as early as we did in the second-half lifted the whole atmosphere in the stadium and that filtered down to the players. His [Ehmer’s] finish lifted the whole group and I thought that we went on from there.
“We’ve got to be a bit more horrible, a bit more ruthless, a bit nastier.
“No one enjoys not winning football matches - that shows in the celebration of the players, the staff and the fans.”
Edinburgh on…the injury situation: “Today is the first time I can think of this whole season where I’ve had to think about who I put on the bench.
“They’re not nice decisions to make but they are in the sense that you have to be thoughtful about your team selection. We’ve come off the pitch and we have no further injuries, which bodes well for the next few weeks.
“You don’t want the team to pick itself, or the bench to pick itself.”
Edinburgh on…Brackley and moving forward: “We have some travelling to do now and it’s a really important game [against Brackley Town] for us on Wednesday night. We know what the cameras are there for – an upset.
“Today and Tuesday gives us is more confidence. We’ve been looking for something to start, a foundation to build off; I think that’s one defeat in five, so we’re showing signs of consistency.
“What we have to do now is churn out the performances that we have done and more times than not, we will get the result.
“We’re becoming competitive and we’re heading in the right direction.”