Gillingham manager Mark Bonner spoke highly of his squad's mentality after their 3-0 win against Tranmere Rovers.
Ethan Coleman's second-half red card meant Gills had to play out a period of the second half with ten men for a second successive home fixture. However, Bonner realises that having dealt with that situation before allows the squad to lean on previous experiences.
Jayden Clarke came off the bench to score twice, his first two goals of the season. The Gills boss praised the hard work that Clarke has put in. Bonner also acknowledged how there is more to come, not just from Clarke, but the entire squad.
The win at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium saw Gillingham continue their 100% home record for the season. The 38-year-old is hoping to see the crowds continue to grow as the season goes on, with Priestfield turning into a real fortress for his side.
The mentality of the squad...
It's a brilliant win against a team that hasn't conceded chances or goals, and they haven't lost yet. It was a tough game, as we expected it to be. I thought that we started both halves like a train, and then we made the game difficult for ourselves again because of the sending-off. That's two times that we have made it hard, but I have got to say, the mentality of the team when it goes against us is amazing.
One, you want to respond well with a good result when you've had a difficult day like last weekend. Two is when you have those moments in games. That's the story you build together. We get the lads over, and they're having a drink, and all anyone is saying is that 'we've been here before'. When you have those experiences to fall back on, it gives you a little bit of a way of handling that and coming out with a good result.
Thoughts on the game...
We started really well in the first half with good intent, good options high up the pitch, and good pressure high up the pitch. We started the second half the same, and we have got to back ourselves to do it a little bit more often. We changed our build-up a little bit, and they changed their press a little bit, so we switched it again at half-time. That's the fun of it really.
It's just backing ourselves that we can get a bit more pace in the game and that personality to stay on the ball sometimes and add an extra pass to the move. That will come. The learning from today is probably for another day.
The bits I love from today are such qualities that will serve us well. The togetherness that is building in the team, the spirit when it goes against you, the counter-attacking qualities when you need it. We don't want to be a counter-attacking team, but we want to be amazing at counter-attacking. We had that three times today, where we did it very well.
There were pockets in the game where we played some good football and progressed the game nicely as well. There were pockets in the game where we had to defend well and bits that we will pick up and think we could do a bit better.
Given all the circumstances and the response from last week on a tough day physically, as it was really warm out there today, so the lads were flagging a little bit. They have dragged themselves through a 100-minute game and done it brilliantly.
On Jayden Clarke...
I'm really happy for Jayden. He gets a lot of stick. He has been brilliant and has been working his socks off. He has been working brilliantly against the ball, and like many of the players, they have got to back themselves a bit more with it. There's more in us than we have shown. That's what excites me. There's a lot more to come from us.
Making Priestfield a fortress...
We know how important here is for us. We know the Geography of the league, so it's tough for people when they travel to us, and we want it to be tough when they play here. We want to make sure that we fill this place and keep building a connection, getting it busier and busier and having more people coming.
The crowds are great, and the atmosphere is good. My dream is that it keeps growing and doesn't stop, and our level keeps improving here. You want to be in a position where teams fear coming here a little bit. We have got a real confidence when we are here hopefully days like today, keep building that.
