Matt Lawrence made his Gills debut at Edgar Street on Saturday and could not hide his delight at helping to secure a point on his first start. "It was a physical encounter; they've got four or five six foot two guys and play pretty much a long-ball game.
"They work on set-pieces so we had to be strong from goal-kicks, free-kicks and corners. I didn't think they opened us up too much in open play and I thought we defended pretty well.
"I'm happy because we kept a clean-sheet in my first game and that's all that anyone can ask from a defender. Hopefully we can do the same in other away games and go on to score a couple of goals as well."
Whilst pleased with his performance the 36 year-old confessed that the game had taken a lot out of him, "I'm very tired. I've done a lot of work on my own at home. A lot of running, probably four or five times a week at home since probably the middle of May, but straight-line running is never the same as football fitness.
"I've suffered from it and probably hit a brick wall at 55 minutes today. There was no overlapping after that, but we're away from home so I was quite happy to sit in today. It's just a matter of playing games again. I haven't pulled on a pair of boots since playing for Palace at Hillsborough on May 2nd."
A centre-half by choice, Lawrence made his Gills debut at right-back and explained the thinking behind the switch, "I met the lads for the first time on Thursday and I know a few of them from playing over the years. The Gaffer probably slotted me in at right-back because it's easier to cope there than at centre-half.
"You need to gel with your partner and Josh and "Sincs" have obviously been playing together for a bit longer. I thought they did fantastically well today. I've been brought in to marshal the defence and whether that's from right-back, left-back or centre-half I'm happy to do that.
"I'm not sure that I'm a natural talker, I don't know that I'll go on to coach, or things like that, but the Gaffer brought me in for that reason. Marshalling the defence sounds a bit patronising to the other lads, but we are fairly young as a squad, so hopefully I can be a voice for the team.
"When I came in to training on Thursday, I think there were 13 of us, and seven or eight were under 19, so the more voices we can get on the football pitch the better."
As a new arrival to the team, Matt is already aware of the Gills lamentable away record but the experienced campaigner is positive that an away win is just around the corner, "I know that everyone keeps talking about this monkey on our back of not winning a game away from home, but I've not really been a part of it and it's not affecting me.
"A few of the other lads weren't involved last season, so I don't think it's weighing on quite a few of our minds. It will be fantastic when we eventually do get the next away win and hopefully it will come at Morecambe in the next game."
I've been speaking to the lads, to find out as much as I can about the club over the last 48 hours, and the boys have been saying that we do take away good travelling support. They were fantastic today, and the boys put in a good shift, so it was easy for the fans to get behind us and hopefully they can do that every game.
