Peter Taylor says his players must learn the lessons from closing stages in Port Vale game as Valiants launch strong fightback
Peter Taylor said he and his team can learn a lot from the performance during the last 15 minutes against Port Vale on Saturday.From being 3-0 up the visitors pegged the score back to 3-2 in the last ten minutes, and although Gills held out for maximum points, Peter said the players need to learn how to see out games better.
Speaking after the game he said: “We’ve just got to get stronger than that, we have made good progress but for the last 20 minutes we need to be a stronger team because we still know we still have a bit to do.
“For 70 minutes I think we deserved to win the match but on the last 20 minutes Port Vale deserved to get something out of it.
“As much as that was good play from Port Vale I thought it was panicky play for us and we need to be stronger than that.
“That’s what happens, people might think 3-0 is a safe score but it’s not. You just never know.
“We didn’t change anything, in the end they scored from a corner and that’s what changed it. We probably stopped pressing as high up the field as we should have been.
“I’m sure there will be other teams in the country who were winning but then conceded because they were trying to protect their lead.
“I’m over the moon with the way the players have got a result but we can always learn from things. Sometimes you get a win but don’t think so much about the game but we got a win and can also learn a lot from it which is good for us.”
Peter said in such a situation when the opposition are applying pressure, players on the field of play need to be more vocal.
He added: “That’s the main thing I said to them afterwards, we need to look at each other in the eye. Steven Gregory needs to look at Amine or Connor Smith and we need to get our partnerships in order.
“Adam Barrett doesn’t stop talking all day but we need a few more like him, I want to see other back four players do as much talking and organisation as that.
“It’s happened and it wasn’t great to see but I’m sure we will be better for it the next time.
"We have won a game, we have got three points and if we had played for 90 minutes like we did for 70 and won the game 3-0 that would have been fabulous but in the end we have had a negative 20 minutes, but we can learn more from that.
“I think the players feel that we are getting better; I hear them talking and I think they feel we are more athletic so we have more of a chance to cause problems.
“We are top half now and they will enjoy seeing that because of the situation we have been in but there is still a lot to do because we have played more games than other teams.
“I’m happier the way the team are looking at the minute. I said quite a while back that it was a difficult situation to come in as Interim but the players have responded fantastically and the loan players have done fantastic so that’s pleasing, the spirit is excellent so we just need to keep going."