Forward enthused by what he has seen so far as Gills clinch first league win of the season at Wigan.
Jordan Graham said Saturday’s performance against Wigan contained plenty of encouraging signs for the season ahead.
Jordan, who scored twice at the DW Stadium, was delighted to clinch all three points to kick start the Gills season, and he says collectively there is a lot of determination and hunger for such a young group.
Speaking after the 3-1 win he said: “It was a good team performance. I feel like it’s probably the closet to how we were last year from when I came in January. There is a real good fighting team spirit in there; I felt we were never going to lose the game. I thought we were quite comfortable, they put us under a bit of pressure in the last 20 minutes but the more we play and train together we are getting that spirit and gelling really well.
“I said on Thursday it was important to get three points on the board today and take that into Blackpool. I knew it was a very winnable game and I said to the boys in the dressing room it was there for us today.
“We knew in the back of our minds Wigan were not in a great position; they have lost a lot of players and it’s a new team. There was a big chance for us, we knew that. We took advantage and that will give us some momentum going into a tough game at Stoke.
“This is the benchmark; we have set a standard, we know we can play and we’ve shown people we can do that and now we need to get into a routine. We won’t always be the most attractive passing side in the league but we can get it down, we can be a threat going direct, and we can defend. If we can gel it all together we can be a real force this season.”
The former Wolves winger said earlier in the week he was keen to add more goals to his game, and he delivered almost immediately, netting twice in the first half with Wigan having taken the lead through Joe Garner.
He added: “This season I have been saying to family and friends I need to score more goals, I need to be more selfish. I am really pleased today, one against Coventry and two today and it’s all helping the team towards the end goal.
“Rayns has been telling me to get in behind Vadaine so I needed to take a bit of a gamble, I took a touch over a defender and I was in two minds whether to side foot it or strike with my laces, I gave it what I had and it took a nick off the defender which took it away from the keeper and the second is what I’m about. I dropped inside and I hit it so quick the keeper didn’t have time to move his legs.
“It’s good for me, I said on Thursday I want to add more goals. I know I don’t score enough so it something I am eager to do and I can’t wait now to kick on!
“We are starting to show signs we can play, we have Vadaine who can win everything aerially. The third goal was quite a good example of hopefully some of the promise that will come in future with this team. I am really happy stood here with this win, it’s really important for us.
“I want to get more shots off and be in shooting positions. Sometimes I drift so I’m not in there so it’s about being in positions where I can add goals to my game. I feel fit physically, I’m lasting 90 minutes week in week out so it’s promising on a personal level, and on a team level aswell.”
Josh Eccles made his first appearance since signing on loan from Coventry on Thursday, and Jordan was impressed with the midfielder who has only spent a small amount of time with his new team-mates.
He added: “Josh was really good considering he has only trained with us for a couple of days! He has gone straight in at the deep end and played really well; we have some good footballers who like to get it down and play, which suits people like me and Trae.
“I think we are getting there slowly and there were some really positive signs.”
Finally, Jordan said the entire squad miss the presence of supporters but said, until they return, they need to show the same levels of desire in order to win games.
He added: “I know it’s frustrating for the fans not being here, we miss them, but that’s no excuse for us. It would have been nice to have them, and I bet the fans would have loved it, but it is what it is and we have to grind games out and today was a promising sign to show we can come to big teams such as Wigan and win. For these young lads it gives them a boost of confidence and we really battled hard.”