Steve Evans delivers his assessment following Saturday's game at the Kassam.
Gillingham manager Steve Evans admitted his side were second best during the first half between the two sides at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, following the Gills’ 3-0 defeat against Oxford United.
The visitors conceded three times in the opening 45 minutes to give themselves a lot to do after the interval but, despite a better showing after the break, Oxford clinched the points.
Speaking after the game the Gills boss said: “I think first half the gulf in everything that Oxford did and we did was huge. It looked as if we hadn’t worked on the systems, the shape of play, everything. We were grateful to get to half time at 3-0.
“What I would say was that in the first ten minutes we started really bright. The objective in the second half was not to lose the second half, as daft as that sounds. We made a bit of a game of it in the second half.”
Evans however made it clear that the players should not forget the performance, and should look to learn from it, saying: “You remember the bad days more that the good days to be fair. The first half was a bad day, the second half wasn’t a bad day. We got away lightly with three at half time. We’ll learn from it tbest we can, and put it into action on the training ground.”
The manager also had praise for the travelling away fans and apologised for his side’s first half showing. He said: “They (the fans) clapped the players at the end and they’re brilliant, but apologies obviously for the first half, it was an unacceptable performance.”