Gills boss gives his reaction following 1-0 win over Crewe.
Gills new manager Neil Harris said all credit had to go to his players following Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Crewe Alexandra at ME7.
Danny Lloyd’s first-half penalty proved enough to separate the sides, although Vadaine Oliver did strike the post in the second period having come on to replace Muzzy Carayol.
Aaron Chapman made two excellent stops to keep his clean sheet, with Gills achieving maximum points for the first time since October.
Following the game, Harris said: “The build-up has been difficult, relentless, coming to a Football Club is a privileged position, especially at this proud Football Club.
“To come in on transfer deadline day, I never envisaged how difficult it was going to be. It was carnage for the day. We finished at 11pm, and then we thought `we have a game tomorrow, we’ve got to prepare,` so we went really light on training yesterday [Monday]. That today was based off video work, individual work, and the credit for the victory goes to the players.
“The game plan we had for, probably, 45 minutes was pretty good. Second half it was about endeavor and desire to want to win, putting bodies on the line and defending heroically and, ultimately, the best chances did fall for us.
“The players were so desperate to win a game of Football. I am really proud of the players tonight; we will be better than that, I can assure everybody we will be better than that. I hope it provides the same results, but we will improve as we go.”
Harris, who spent time on loan with Gills as a player during his career, heaped praise on the supporters who provided superb backing during his first game at the helm.
He added: “Phenomenal reception, I didn’t expect that, fans singing your name in your first game. I wasn’t always the best player on the pitch, but I had a right go. Ultimately the fans want to see a Gillingham team; we haven’t got to dominate games, possession wise.
“It’s got to be heart, effort, desire, team spirit and we’ve got to get that link between the fans and the pitch again, and tonight I felt that. You could see the fans feeding off the players when Dan Phillips runs the ball 30 yards, Jacko runs 60 yards into the corner. The fans were with us, and results like that and nights like this really help get fans back through the gates.
“My aim is to try and give them a team they are proud of. It’s just a start, we want to see a couple hundred more travel to Ipswich that may not have gone. Again, no promises as to what the result is going to be, but the players will have a go.
“Next home game, we want to see more bums on seats.
“My work for Ipswich has started already.
“We have seen some real quality tonight, but the players want to learn, and they will learn and get better.”