Gills boss reflects on dramatic afternoon at the Pirelli Stadium.
Steve Lovell was full of praise for the character shown by his Gills side as a stoppage time winner from Josh Rees sealed three valuable points on the road at Burton Albion.
Despite being under pressure for large periods, Gillingham went in to the interval two-nil ahead thanks to goals from Elliott List and Callum Reilly, but a rallying second half from the Brewers brought the scores level. With the game in the balance, Rees stepped up to score his first goal for the club in stoppage time as the Gills won 3-2.
Reflecting on the game, Lovell said: “They [Burton] played absolutely fantastic and they were probably the best team we’ve played this season. We know what it’s like when you feel that you deserve something out of the game and to be fair, I felt that Burton did deserve to get something out of the game, but that’s not taking anything away from our players and the way they dug in. It was an excellent three points.
“You have to give them credit because they stopped us from playing, they closed us down, but they didn’t stop us enough as we scored three goals.”
Rees’ goal came in added time and helped continue Gills’ impressive form on the road and Lovell was full of praise for the midfielder, who signed from Bromley in the summer.
He said; “Josh is a true pro, he has waited for his opportunity, he’s worked hard, and he gives everything, but I’ve been waiting for this moment because Josh is a good player and he is a goal scorer, that will do him no end of good and he will kick on from that.
“The character showed and the way that we got the winning goal was excellent I’m so pleased for the boys and all the supporters who travelled up here, because that was a tough 90 minutes.”
Lovell continued: “The one thing I have always said about the boys is that they will always give 100% effort, they might give the ball away, but they’ll give everything. They might have had all the stats in the world, but it is the top stat that matters; Burton 2 Gillingham 3. Any win is a great win, but this is an important one for us.”