Gills boss delivers his immediate reaction following the 2-1 defeat to Scunthorpe at Glanford Park
Justin Edinburgh said he couldn’t fault the effort or the attitude of his players following the 2-1 defeat to Scunthorpe on Saturday.With the Iron leading after 26 minutes the game was thrown into doubt when the players were told to leave the field by referee Andy Haines due to extreme weather conditions.
However the ground staff, and certain members of the Gills bench, worked hard for 30 minutes to clear the pitch of standing water and the game resumed in difficult circumstances.
Neither side from there on in were able to create clear openings, but Justin was keen to point out that mistakes made during the game were ones his team could learn from.
He said: “It was quite a bizarre first half, we started very well and then we were the instigators of our downfall in gifting Scunthorpe two goals and then we had to depart the pitch due to the deluge of rain.
“The game fizzled out really; we had a lot of possession in the second half without creating many chances.
“You always want to start fast and try to get an initiative and foothold. We did that and had one or two other chances but as good as our play was we are bitterly disappointed with the two goals, we spoke about it and they are things we need to learn from.
“I’m sure the players who were at fault for the goals will learn from that because they are good characters – young boys but they will certainly learn from those errors.
“We were in safe possession of the ball and unopposed, it’s an unforced error. When that happens not once but twice you get punished for it, when you have good possession you need to be expansive and we were but we gave it away twice.
“I can’t fault the players’ attitude, in terms of the conditions it was treacherous under foot and I thought both teams competed very well and it could have been difficult but both played it to an excellent standard.
“We are disappointed but we are at home for the next game and we will look to win that one.”
When the players left the pitch after 26 minutes it was questioned whether the game would restart at all, but the Gills boss said his players and staff conducted themselves in the right way assuming they would go back out.
He added: “We conducted ourselves correctly as we always do. We kept ourselves in the dressing room waiting for a decision to be made and once it was we continued with the game.”
One talking point of the second half was the decision to not award Cody McDonald a penalty when it seemed clear he had been tripped.
Justin was adamant a penalty should have been awarded. He said: “100%, there is contact. We all know Cody is as honest a player as you can get, he has a cut on his knee - the referee seemed to start to put the whistle to his mouth and then decided not to.
“If he then thinks he has dived then simulation and book him but he didn’t. For me it was the wrong call.”