Richard Dobson was proud of the effort and determination that the players displayed as nine-man Gillingham lost 1-0 to Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on Saturday.
Remeao Hutton and Jonny Williams were both sent off, but despite the disadvantage, Gills continued to battle throughout, fighting until the final whistle. Those are the psychological qualities that Dobson and the coaching staff were proud of.
Due to the red cards and Sam Gale accumulating his fifth yellow card of the season, they will miss the upcoming fixture against Salford City. The Gillingham assistant manager spoke about how that will impact their plans ahead of another tough game.
There were 489 Gillingham supporters at Grimsby, who showed their appreciation for the incredible efforts that the players showed. Dobson was grateful for their continued support of the team.
On the players' efforts…
What we should be talking about today is the amazing effort that our boys put into that game. Their physical and mental qualities shone through today, and to be hanging on for a 1-0 win if you’re a Grimsby player against nine men is a testament to the effort and energy that our boys showed. I am absolutely delighted with all of the psychological qualities that they showed and the fitness levels. I thought that they were absolutely outstanding.
I think those qualities are qualities that are now showing week in and week out. This isn’t a side that gives up. I showed a slide to the boys the other day with all of the late goals that we have scored and said, ‘This isn’t a coincidence. This is who you are. This is the team that you have become, and you never give up. Nobody ever has an easy ride. We are always in the fight.’ Today, to do it in the circumstances that we have done and to be in the fight until the 97th minute is just first class. I can’t praise the boys enough today.
Competing in the game with ten and nine men…
It’s absolutely not the team that you want to go down to ten men or nine men against, because they use the ball so well. We were confident at 11v11 that we would be able to stifle them and stop them creating chances, but to do it with ten men, and then to do it with nine men for as long as we did, and to keep that score line as close as we did was just fantastic.
It’s just a shame that we couldn’t get something on the end of those balls bobbling around the box at the end, because it would have been an unbelievable effort to come out of this game with something. It was against what is a good side, and they will have ambitions of being in the top seven this season.
Looking ahead…
That’s the knock-on effect when you have games like today. It doesn’t just hurt you in this game; it hurts you in the following games as well. This is why we have a squad and why we need people ready. It’s a shame because now we’re talking about disruption to next week’s team. We spoke about injuries the other day disrupting the team selection, and now we have suspensions on top of it.
We have to come through these periods. We knew that it was going to be a tough run with MK Dons, Cheltenham, with a new manager, and then you go to Grimsby away. Now we have Salford, who are at the top end of the league as well. We knew that it was going to be a tough run of games, and we didn’t want it to become tougher in the way that it did today. We have got to take it on the chin.
I come away today, bizarrely, a bit more encouraged about us and what we are and what we have become. I think that if we continue to show the same qualities, and I spoke about belief earlier in the week, and we show a bit more belief on the ball when we get games that are 11v11, then I think that we are going to become a very good side. I am really pleased with the boys, and I think that we have to celebrate their efforts today more than anything else.
The travelling support…
It was amazing. Thanks again to the fans who have come this far to support us again. They do so in their numbers at every away game. It’s just brilliant to have them around. I thought that the reception that they gave the players was first class. They obviously acknowledged the effort of the players, and while it was a defeat, and it’s a tough defeat to take, thank you to everybody involved today for the effort that they put into the game, and thank you to the fans for their reception at the end.
