Gareth Ainsworth was encouraged with how Gillingham finished their Boxing Day draw against Cambridge United at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium.
Max Clark's second-half header from a Bradley Dack corner brought the Gills back on level terms after Louis Appere gave Cambridge a first-half lead, and the hosts finished the stronger of the two teams with Bradley Dack's drilled effort well saved.
The Gills boss was delighted to have Conor Masterson back in the matchday squad and looked ahead to the next three league games, with them coming thick and fast.
On the game...
It was really good to have some players back. It was a sloppy goal to concede, but I think that at the end of the first-half we had seven shots to their one, and at the end of the second-half we have got to be double, nearly 20 shots at their goal to their five or six in the whole game. That to me is us back to our best, being the aggressors.
I thought that Josh Andrews was magnificent. I don't often single people out, but I think that it showed that we missed him, definitely. There were some other good performances there, and I went with legs in the midfield. Me and Bradley [Dack] had a chat pre-Christmas, and we have to look after him with the run of games that we have got, but the subs made a good impact, I thought.
I think that Cambridge were happy for the final whistle, while we wanted ten minutes more to maybe kick on. It was brilliant for us to score, especially after just missing a penalty. I think that we have missed more penalties than teams have had penalties this season, and we need to sort that out. We definitely deserved the point. Probably a bit more.
Conor Masterson's return to the matchday squad...
He got a nasty injury against Walsall and has been on a big road back. We had some chats, and he wanted to be involved two games ago, and I came and saw him and said, 'Look, Conor, we have to take our time with you.' That's the kind of boy that he is. He just wants to contribute to this team, and he cares so much about this club. Gillingham really gave him his chance, and he came here and is a warrior at times- a real leader.
There is every chance that Conor will be involved.
Moving on towards the next three games...
It is going to be tough for teams with these four games in 11 days. They are going to have to go into their 12, 13, 14 and 15 players. They are going to have to do that. I have done it before, and I know what it is like. It's a squad game, big time. Shadrach Ogie and Travis [Akomeah] were missing out on the squad today, and they were two players who have performed well for us lately.
Euan Williams is back, and Marcus Wyllie is back, so we have got depth now. I was dipping into the youth team for subs before, but we have definitely got depth back. I am looking forward to seeing what we can do over this Christmas period.
I think that the subs coming on impacted the game in the right way, and we haven't had that for a few weeks, so that has been great for me. I have got some good decisions to make for Colchester on Monday. We will come in tomorrow and Sunday, preparing right, and I want another full-blooded performance like I saw in the second-half out there.
