Justin Edinburgh spoke to the media following his side's 2-1 victory against Walsall on Saturday
at the Banks’s Stadium.Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Walsall to Wednesday’s FA Cup defeat to Brackley Town was delivered in pre-match request for his side to respondGills manager Justin Edinburgh believes his
Upon their return to Sky Bet League One action, goals from Cody McDonald and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas - with the help of a Max Ehmer deflection - saw the Gills win in Walsall for the first time since 1992.
The victory also moves Edinburgh’s side up to fifteenth in the table, just four points off the play-off places, after back-to-back league wins.
Edinburgh on…the result:“There has obviously been a lot of soul-searching over the last couple of days, but credit to the players. They had to question themselves on Wednesday and that’s never a good thing. But a response has been given, so I’m pleased.
“There were some words spoken on Thursday [after the Brackley defeat] and the mood was extremely flat. They were hurting and rightly so - as we all were - but we had a really good training session on Friday and the mood quickly swung. That was proved on the pitch today.
“At other times during this season. we might have lost that game and something might have gone against us, but today we had to defend for our lives in the last 10 minutes and we certainly did that. That’s back-to-back victories in the league now and there’s a really good opportunity for us to continue that run.”
“Max [Ehmer] says it definitely touched him, but JET’s saying it’s already showing on Sky Sports as his, so it’s done and dusted as far as he’s concerned! It’s irrelevant; it was about the group today and them making sure there was a response to the black mark that went against all our names on Wednesday. We did that. That’s credit to the supporters, as well, who have turned up and stuck with us."Edinburgh on…the winning goal:
“We finished the first half strongly, but in the second half there was times when weEdinburgh on…the Gills’ defensive strength: were up against it. That’s what we needed; to show that character. The back four and Nels [goalkeeper Stuart Nelson] have stood firm - they were excellent. Baily [Cargill] was fantastic alongside Max, just like he was last week [against Northampton Town]. And I thought Waggy [Scott Wagstaff] was excellent at right-back, giving us energy and balance.”
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