Gillingham manager Mark Bonner says his side need to get themselves going quickly to ensure they stay in the chasing pack following the 1-0 defeat to AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane.
Bonner gave his immediate match reaction and discussed the winning goal that Matty Stevens scored five minutes into the second-half. The Gillingham manager knows that there is still plenty of work to be done heading into 2025, while looking ahead to the fast turnaround against Bromley.
Match Reaction...
I thought that the performance was much improved from Boxing Day. I liked the intensity, the organisation and the effort that we played with. It was much better in that sense.
We played the second-half with a real intent to be the dominant team. We didn't create too many clear-cut moments and made some poor decisions in certain situations where there was a great chance for us to get the goal. When there is another pass in the move, they have to see it, and they have to find it because that can be another turning point.
The overall emotion is really angry that we lost the game. I'm really angry at the way in which we lost the game, but I'm hopeful that as a minimum level, that gives you a chance of winning games in a league that is going to be open until Easter. We're going to need to turn in some wins quickly and get to scoring goals quickly because if we don't, then it can drift away fast.
Thoughts on their winning goal...
It's not easy at full speed, but in the end, there was a bit of space that he ends up in, and it's a fairly clear line from the linesman's side to see that. I would expect him to see that. Just like I would expect us to defend it better or not give it away the first time. We should expect that from our players, but we should expect that from them as well.
In the end, it feels like that's the reason we lost the game, but there are loads of reasons why we lost the game, and we have to take absolute ownership and responsibility ourselves for that. However, those moments don't help.
Needing to improve...
I thought that with all the setbacks in the game, we responded well. That hasn't always been the case, and that's where we are at the moment. We have to be a resilient team that digs in and finds our way through the games.
But our wins at the moment when we're in this situation are gritty wins, and that's what it has to be. We have to accept that until we can get to a point where we are a bit more full-flowing and confident.
Looking ahead to Bromley...
There has been a fair bit of illness around and things like that, so we need to see where we are in the next couple of days and find a team that can fight and have a real go against Bromley on the second of January because it's a game where we need to respond and to keep trying to find a way of winning.
It comes around really quick, so there's no need to feel sorry for ourselves. We have got to try and get ourselves going really quickly.
