Gareth Ainsworth was pleased with what he saw from his side as they drew 1-1 at Chesterfield on Tuesday night.
The Gillingham manager mentioned the hard work that went into preparing for the fixture while also appreciating his player's efforts.
Elliott Nevitt scored in a second successive game, and the Gills boss believes the striker will continue to find the back of the net if given the chances.
There were 340 Gillingham supporters at the SMH Group Stadium. The 51-year-old was appreciative of their support and how their encouragement had a positive impact on the players.
Immediate post-match thoughts…
I’m really pleased with the boys. This is a really tough place to come to. I know it’s four draws, but three away trips and overnight trips against tough teams. We’ve really messed up a few play-off charges with Chesterfield, Salford and Colchester at home.
I just want to say that the boys are now realising what I’m all about and what I expect on the pitch. They’re giving absolutely everything. We have a formation that we worked on. Again, we’ve had no time on the grass because of this fixture schedule, so on the video they have taken the information in brilliantly.
Thoughts on the game…
We really took the first half to them. I thought that we were the better team. I thought that we controlled the ball better and we had some great chances in the first half. We frustrated them. We really did.
In the second half, when they are kicking towards their home end, it’s just like us at home with the Rainham End. The fans are behind them and we soaked up a lot of pressure. Just for that tiny moment, we would have had a great win.
They did put pressure on us. I’m not going to rose tint this and say that we were perfectly calm. They had a couple of chances, but I thought that we could have nicked it at the end. We had a great header across the goal from Nev [Elliott Nevitt], and when Jimmy-Jay [Morgan] came on, he had a pull-back to Armani [Little], which just got cut out. It was a cracking game.
Elliott Nevitt’s goal…
People will tell me that we struggle for goals and a goal scorer, but he’s two-in-two now. The way he finished that, he finished that really well.
It was a great goal from Nev, and he took it really well. He then almost scored after Chesterfield’s equaliser.
He knows where the goal is, and if we can create chances for Elliott Nevitt, he’s going to score them.
Aaron Rowe’s performance…
Aaron Rowe did really well to set it up [the goal]. It was his first start for me and opened my eyes, which is great.
I thought he blasted everything. When he’s coming off with cramp and saying, ‘That’s me Gaffer’, after 70 minutes. I love that because he’s given everything. He was a real thorn in Chesterfield’s side today.
On the supporters…
To the Gills fans, who, by the way, thank you because you’re going to get home at three in the morning, and you’ve got behind your team like you wouldn’t believe tonight.
Every time we did something well at the defending end, you could hear the applause, the chants and the songs. The players need that, and I need that. They were awesome today. Thank you.
I think that 340 have made that trip up and that’s a phenomenal number.
