The Gills manager reflects on Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Walsall at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium
Justin Edinburgh admitted that watching the Gills lose out in their promotion clash with Walsall at MEMS Priestfield on Tuesday night was "a tough one to take".
Two breakaway goals from Milan Lalkovic and Jordi Hiwula gave Walsall an unassailable lead in the second half, although the Gills salvaged a goal in stoppage time courtesy of a superb overhead kick from Luke Norris, who missed a penalty on 22 minutes.
Edinburgh said: “I’m extremely disappointed, hurt, flat, low – everything that you can imagine. The players are the same, I'm sure the fans are, and it’s a tough one to take.
“For the first 30 minutes we were very good, but the second half was as poor as we’ve probably been throughout the season.
“We undid ourselves for their first, and we got caught on the counter for the second. We were probably the masters of our own downfall tonight.”
Edinburgh felt that Norris’ missed penalty was crucial in the context of the game, adding: “It’s no criticism but the penalty had a change and swing in the game. We lost confidence, they gained it. It rocked us, put us on our heels and Walsall certainly gained from that.
“I've just watched Sergio Aguero miss a penalty in a Champions League quarter-final [for Manchester United], so who am I to say he shouldn't miss? It happens.”
Nonetheless, the Gills manager drew positives from the first half performance, saying: “We had an edge, I thought we looked like we were going to score. We looked a threat.
“We know we’re better than that [second half performance]”, Edinburgh reiterated. "We haven’t been beaten at our best, we’ve been beaten well below par”