Gills boss Justin Edinburgh has been speaking before his side play their last game at Priestfield in 2016.
The MK Dons arrive on Saturday afternoon with the Gills looking to exorcise the memories of their Monday night TV defeat at Bolton Wanderers. The Gills boss though was philosophical about what happened in the North West; “We’ve got to strive to achieve those levels,” he said. “In my time at Priestfield and being a manager in this League, Bolton’s performance was the most efficient team that Ive ever come up against – simple as that. Sometime you have to just stop and applaud your opponents and that’s what we have to do after Monday night.”
“Don’t get me wrong we’re not going to beat ourselves up over it but you have to move on. Yes there were things that we could have done better but there are times when you can’t be over critical of your own team when you’re playing a better side as we were on Monday. There are things that we know we should have done better on the night and we’ve spoken of them and highlighted them but we have to move on quickly and with games coming in quick succession now we have to make sure that we get some points on the board and continue to perform.”
“That said when I left the TV interview on Monday night I did say to them that I hope that I didn’t see them too soon. Its disappointing as we’ve had some really disappointing results on TV – though not performances! I watched the rerun of Monday night and I think the co-commentator summed it up when he said that “Gillingham hadn’t done a lot wrong but leave defeated 4-0.” At Brackley we got what we deserved; Sheffield United we should have got a draw and then there was Wigan last season. It’s been a bit of a torrid time on the cameras so hopefully we don’t see them again before the end of the season!”
Edinburgh then spoke about his team selection plans. “Apart from the long term boys, we’ll be looking at Scott Heard and Darren Oldaker before the game but the rest of the squad is OK… We’ve got a really competitive squad now which is what we’ve wanted all season and that’s vital now with the Christmas program around the corner. With all these games in quick succession it’s a great way to pick up points quickly and move up in the right direction.”
The Gills boss was then asked about the sacking of the Dons manager Karl Robinson. “I have to admit that I was personally surprised that he was sacked after just 15 games this year,” Edinburgh said. “He’d taken them to the Championship and Play Offs and a lot of success and introduced players who are now England internationals and he was sacked after 15 games. I believe that it was far too early in the season but it sums up the business that we’re in. Most success is built on continuity and that’s where you get success. It’s always frustrating when you see good people losing their jobs but that’s also why everyone loves the game of football as you never know what’s going to happen next…”
Continuing the Gills boss said, “I saw them play Charlton in the Cup on Tuesday night. I saw certain changes since the new manager has arrived but there’s still the same group of players that we know although there’s a new mind set from the new man in charge. They’ve won their last two but there’s always a response to a change in manager so we’re expecting a tough game against a team high in confidence. We’ve been showing some progress here at home and getting some good results so we’ll be looking to continue that on Saturday.” “We want to win every game we play and the fans know that – we had a good win here last time out against Rochdale and we’ll be looking for something of the same this week. You always want to produce in front of your own fans and that doesn’t change…”