Josh Parker spoke to the press following Gills narrow defeat at Barnsley.
Josh Parker is confident that if he and his Gills team-mates can start games well they will be a match for any team in the division going forward.
Gills slipped to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Barnsley on Saturday at Oakwell, with Parker finding the target, and then nearly snatching an equaliser in the dying moments.
After the game he said: “We are obviously very disappointed. We came here thinking we could cause an upset but we’ve come to a conclusion in the last year, since the manager has been in charge, that when we don’t start the first 45 minutes right, we struggle, and more often than not we give ourselves a mountain to climb.
“We can always gauge how we are going to play by the tempo that we start at. When the gaffer first came in we were all over teams like a rash in the first 45 minutes and we went on a run that was, probably, above what people expected of us.
“For some reason in the last three games we have kind of slipped off the pedal and have let teams start. I don’t think it’s anything to do with the amount of games because, if anything, our strength is our fitness and we have a team full of runners. It’s just finding the right balance and sometimes that takes a bit of time.
“At this level anyone can beat anyone and possession counts for nothing. The first goal should never have gone in and the penalty was, well, I haven’t seen it back but it’s debatable and we should have had a penalty in the second half.
“The changing room is always confident because we know what we are capable of. If we all start well in the same fashion we will beat any team.”
Parker will miss Tuesday’s Checkatrade Trophy game against Portsmouth and next Saturday’s league game at home to AFC Wimbledon after being called up for international duty by Antigua and Barbuda, but he says whoever comes into the team will do a fine job.
He added: “It’s always difficult when you leave the team when things aren’t going so well but I know whoever steps into my position for the game against AFC Wimbledon will seize their opportunity. It’s healthy competition; I’ve got to go away and do what I’ve got to do and just get on with it.”