Caretaker Manager delivers Portsmouth verdict.
Peter Taylor said he couldn’t fault the effort of his players but conceded his team are creating their own problems at times following Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth at Priestfield.
Matty Kennedy scored just after half-time and Gills were unable to get back on level terms; Josh Parker’s effort on 66 minutes being ruled out for offside. Taylor said his squad need to do the basic things right first and foremost to try and get results.
He said: “In patches there were some good things but there were a lot of disappointing things as well. The players, I think, make their jobs harder by not doing the basic things well.
“You’re going to have enough problems when you’re playing against a good team anyway but I think at times we caused ourselves more.
“I’m not critical of their effort; their effort is fine but I just think, at times, they’ve got to learn the trade a little bit more. I see silly things, we give silly fouls away when the opponents are facing the wrong way and are not going anywhere.
“I’m probably a little surprised that we didn’t perform a touch better because looking at the boys this week, certainly the Friday and Saturday session I was confident we were going to give a committed performance. I think it was committed but it wasn’t in the right areas.”
The club’s caretaker boss conceded that the team are where they are due to the fact not enough chances are being made but said all he can ask is for the players to give 100%.
He added: “We are giving ourselves more work than we need.
“That’s the position we are in; we are not creating enough. We are certainly defending more than we should be and we’re certainly not creating enough and that’s why we’re in the position we’re in.
“All you can do is ask the players or expect the players to keep working as hard as they possibly can and something changes.”
Ben Nugent went off injured just before the break and Taylor revealed he might be out for some time, although further checks will need to be made.
He added: “Ben was probably our best player before he got injured, winning absolutely every header and then that happened. I didn’t have any hesitation with Jack Tucker; we could have done lots of things and it's good experience for him, he did okay.
“We are hoping it’s really badly bruised but he couldn’t put any weight on it so it’s not looking good.”