Reaction from Gills defender.
Gillingham defender Luke O’Neill was pleased with the club’s resilience as the Gills hung on for an important victory against Rochdale on Saturday afternoon at MEMS Priestfield Stadium.
Despite facing an onslaught of Rochdale pressure, the Gills valiantly defended until the final whistle and ensured that they came away with the three points in a 2-1 win.
Speaking to the press after the game he said: “Character was shown by everyone on the pitch and that’s a credit to the boys.
“It was a bit like the Charlton game, they came at us and I thought it was the same again.”
Although Gillingham dug in deep to keep the visitors out and win the game, manager Steve Lovell was keen to defend higher up the pitch. O’Neill was quick to agree that they will need to rectify the issue, but he was full of praise for his team-mates.
“Maybe that’s one thing we need to work on, being too deep, but that just shows our character, seeing the game out and winning the game.
“Credit to the boys for sticking at it and I’m just glad we got the three points.”
The Gills are now six games unbeaten and are coming off back to back wins; this leaves the team in 14th place and nine points off of the play-offs. O’Neill feels that they shouldn’t be getting too optimistic just yet though.
He added: “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we need to focus, keep getting them wins, getting up that table and pushing away from the relegation zone; that’s the important thing. It will be a bonus if we get anywhere near the play-offs.
“If we keep doing what we’re doing, working hard, especially on the training pitch and, in the performances, we will see where that goes.”