Paul Raynor reacts following 3-1 win over Charlton at ME7.
Assistant Manager Paul Raynor praised his side as they overcome newly promoted Charlton Athletic 3-1 at Priestfield on Saturday afternoon.
The fixture formed part of a double header at Priestfield this weekend with two Championship sides in Charlton and Millwall visiting and Raynor was impressed by what he saw in the Gills first of two games this weekend on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a proper game and there were some tackles flying in and we got exactly what we needed out of it”, Raynor said.
“We spoke about our shape after Dartford and being more solid and we done that today and we will take the win, enjoy it and go again tomorrow. Charlton set the standard last season for what we want to achieve this season and are a very good side with some talented players but we dealt with their threat very well."
Stuart O’Keefe was on the scoresheet this afternoon and Raynor hopes that the Gills fans will see more of the same over the coming season as well as more exciting play from another Gills goal scorer Elliott List.
Read | Gillingham 3-1 Charlton Athletic
“Stuart will give us the energy we need this season; last season we were susceptible to be caught on the counter but Stuart will help that this season. Elliott is also someone really exciting and he scored with a magnificent finish today and we were delighted with him and in fact all of the players today.
“Elliott will dictate how important he is in League One this season for us with the opportunities he has and how he takes them when he gets them.”
Raynor was also delighted with the way that his side prevented Charlton to just one goal.
“We had a good shape about us this afternoon. We dealt with their threat really well and worked incredibly hard to nullify their threat. These players will have to work incredibly hard with and without the ball and as you can see from today everybody is buying into it and wants to be part of it."
Sunday afternoon will see more Championship talent arrive at Priestfield with Millwall in town and Raynor insists his players will be ready for another tough test.
“We will look at the data from today’s game with all the science equipment we now have available and we will discuss who needs less minutes etc and put together as fresh as team as possible”.
“It will be really tough for us but we are working on what we are trying to achieve and the work ethic is there for everybody to see and the boys are taking everything on board and trying their best to achieve it."
Despite a friendly win over Charlton, Raynor insists that his squad aren’t getting carried away ahead of their League One opener against Doncaster Rovers in two weeks’ time.
“We enjoyed today's performance but we aren’t getting carried away. It is always nice to put what we talked about into practice and it is another step forward but hopefully it will all peak at the right time."