Gareth Ainsworth praised the spirit and fight of his team after they came from two goals down to draw 3-3 at Shrewsbury Town.
Gillingham went in at half-time 3-1 down, which left Ainsworth frustrated at the fact they had left themselves with too much to do. Despite a dominant second-half in which Robbie McKenzie and Elliott Nevitt scored, the Gills boss knows they need to begin games as they are currently finishing them.
Nevitt came off the bench in the 82nd minute, and his diving header four minutes later ensured a point. Ainsworth was delighted with the positive impact all four substitutes had in the game.
Josh Andrews entered the game during the first-half after Sam Vokes was forced off due to a knock. The Gills boss was pleased with how Andrews settled into the fixture and provided insight into how he hopes to keep the forward at his best throughout the season.
Assessment of the game…
In the first-half, we weren’t good enough. We didn’t play. In the second half, we were outstanding at times. That’s the difference. We have got to bring these together. I think that if there was another five minutes, we would win the game. There was only one team that was going to score. Their keeper is wasting time at 3-3, so they were obviously happy with a point. We were going for it. We wanted to try and win the game at the end there.
I was disappointed with the first-half and the three goals that we conceded. It’s not like us. We’re usually very solid. We have one of the best defensive records in the league, but there were some really bad mistakes. There were some individual mistakes that I have got to pick up. Everyone does it, but it was at crucial times. The one just before half-time, I thought, was the killer.
I thought that with the conditions and the wind in our favour, kicking towards our fans in the second-half, I thought that we were always going to get one, maybe two. I thought that we could have had more. We had chances galore. We had the chances to hit the target, and we limited Shrewsbury to very little in that second-half. That was the story of the game.
In the first-half, the damage was done. You can’t score three goals away from home and not win the game. That’s criminal, and that’s what we have done today.
Never say die attitude of the squad…
They don’t know when they’re beat. They will keep going, fighting and scrapping. I can take the mistakes, because I am getting the effort. They are giving everything.
The spirit that these boys show, the fight, and not just that, but the football that we played in the second-half, I thought was fantastic football. It was free-flowing and had a real tempo. Obviously, I get billed for a style here and there, but you look at that second-half and the amount of crosses that Garath McCleary and Remeao Hutton got in and combining down that right-hand side.
The positive impact the substitutes had…
[On Elliott Nevitt coming off the bench to score the equaliser] - I told him to get a goal, and said, 'Go and be the hero.' He certainly was. I thought that all of the subs - Nelson [Khumbeni], Lenni [Cirino] and Josh Andrews all made big impacts today. That’s what you want from your subs. You don’t want them to come on and weaken the team. You want them on as they’re fresh and their legs are good. I thought that all four of them did really well.
On managing Josh Andrews through the season…
I think that what we have got to understand is that sometimes with these young players is that I will take them out of the team at the right time. Being totally honest, I think that Josh had been getting tired. It was game after game after game at such a young age. We don’t realise how young Josh is.
You look at him, and you think that he is 30 or something, as he is that big. He’s a young boy. He’s in his early 20s, and I thought that the amount of games was catching up with him a little bit. We weren’t getting the same output, so I thought that we will take him out for a couple of games.
Sam Vokes is a great person to bring in; unfortunately, he has got an injury. Josh will be back now, because he is a colossus up front. Any striker in any division who can do that is worth his weight in gold. He’s a great asset to have.
