Steve Evans delivers his assessment following Gills 3-1 defeat at Sixfields.
After watching his side fall 3-1 to Northampton on Tuesday in Sky Bet League One, a disappointed Steve Evans admitted that his Gillingham players needed to show more fight.
Speaking after the match the Gills boss said: “We started the game well. We were in the ascendency and were starting to get a grip on the game and then we commit an absolutely terrible penalty. We then conceded a second, and defensively we looked all over the place.”
Gillingham were able to pull one back before the break, courtesy of an excellent Kyle Dempsey free-kick, but Alan Sheehan netted for the hosts just after the interval to restore the two goal advantage which Gills were unable to claw back.
Evans said: “They fought well for Keith Curle and gave everything they have got. We were way short, it was as simple as that; there are no excuses from us.
“We knew that if we came here and scored first, then there would have been a different type of atmosphere on the pitch. They were very quiet when we were dominating in the early parts of the game, suddenly they scored and you hear five or six of them shouting for the ball.
“We need to reinforce. We need to do some business in January, tonight proved that.”
With upcoming games not getting any easier in arguably the most competitive Sky Bet League One campaign in recent memory, Evans is now tasked with a tricky away fixture to begin 2021 when the Gills travel to Home Park to face Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
The Gillingham manager, however, remains confident that his team will be able to compete with anyone, as long as they demonstrate a bit more bite.
Evans said: “We are not defeatists and we are not down. We will go to Plymouth and try and achieve a positive result. You have to fight to win.
“Our job is to go to Plymouth and try and put something on the pitch that will give us hope of getting something.
“It will be difficult; they are a good team. I have a lot of respect for Ryan Lowe. I know three or four of their players personally. They have some real good quality but if you live and fight, then you have a chance.”