Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh admitted he feels hurt and disappointed after their 2-1 loss to Walsall.

Despite asserting themselves on the game at Priestfield on Tuesday night, The Gills failed to capitalise on a decent start and Luke Norris saw his penalty kick saved, summing up their lack of form in front of goal.

Two second half goals saw the visitors take charge with Norris’ 94th minute goal proving to be a mere consolation for a Gillingham side that dropped to sixth place in League One.

Having seen his side fail to take the chance of keeping the pressure on the top two, Edinburgh admitted it was a tough defeat to take:

“I feel hurt, disappointed, low, everything you can imagine. So are the players and so are the fans.”

“It’s a tough one to take. For the first 30 minutes we were very good and the penalty had a swing in the game. We lost confidence and they gained it.”

“In the second half we were as poor as we have been throughout the season. I need to reassure a group of distraught players they are more than capable.”

“You have to look at where we are and where we’ve been and feel we will continue to stay there. We’re top five and we have never been out of that, that will be the focus.”

“Games are ticking by and we need to put points on the board. We’ve been rocked, but we will come out fighting on Saturday.”

That game against Port Vale on Saturday at Priestfield now takes on even more importance as The Gills need something from the game to cement their play-off place with Barnsley fast closing on the Kent side.

For Walsall manager Jon Whitney, overseeing his sixth game since replacing Sean O’Driscoll at the helm, the win was a huge bonus for his side:

“I’m proud. In my ‘long’ managerial career that’s the best performance. We knew it was a huge game, we had belief. I sensed there were people doubting us. I hope those people realise what we’re about.”

“Burton players will be having their tea and biscuits and it won’t taste quite as nice, because we’re hunting them down.”

“This is going to the wire, but I guarantee my players will give their all. I don’t think Gillingham could live with us. We passed them off the park, ran them off the park and most pleasingly, we were more physical than them as well.”

“We had a freedom and fluidity to our play. I said to the lads ‘we can’t hope it’s going to happen, we have to make it happen’. I said to them ‘play this as though it’s the last game of your career’, that’s how it has to be now.”

“Every tackle, every pass has to be like your life depends on it. But this performance is wasted if we don’t ask questions of Southend at the weekend.”

A week is a long time in football and Saturday will take forever to come round for some Gillingham fans and players.