Steve Evans felt his side needed to score during a spell of first half dominance to challenge West Ham as visitors do enough to advance in the FA Cup.
Gillingham Manager Steve Evans was proud of his players' performance, despite their 2-0 defeat to West Ham in the FA Cup on Sunday.
The Gills were the better team in the first half of the clash at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium, but were punished by the Premier League outfit in the second half, with Pablo Zabaleta and Pablo Fornals scoring late on to send West Ham through.
Evans said: “My concern at half-time was that we hadn’t scored, because we had so much dominance, so many entries into the box, so many free kicks and corners not executed as we’d like them to be, and that cost us really.
“I just said to the players, take the hurt and take the pain, and it is hurt and pain because I think we know it is a missed opportunity, and at the same time we’ll wish West Ham every success.”
The Gills Manager was disappointed that they were not able to take any of their first half chances, saying: “We got in the trenches and they fought. To put it in military terms, we had all the artillery, all the ammunition, we just didn’t have that sniper.”
Evans also had praise for the supporters, with nearly 11,000 people packed into the stadium. He said: “I think it shows you the potential at Gillingham Football Club, whether it’s at Priestfield, or a new stadium. It shows you the potential we have. There’s a lot of clubs who’d have played West Ham tonight who would have had nowhere near not only the numbers, but the atmosphere created.”