New manager Neil Harris was proud of Gillingham’s performance at Ipswich Town despite coming away with nothing.

A 74th minute Connor Chaplin strike was all the separated the two sides at Portman Road with another impressive performance under Harris.

The defeat leaves The Gills mired in the League One relegation zone, some eight points from safety with just sixteen games left in the season.

Having shown some real promise against a decent Ipswich Town side, Harris felt his side warranted at least a point in Suffolk:

“I thought the performance was very good. Anyone in the ground would have seen how organised we were, how structured we were, and what game plan we had.”

“We will get better; we’ve just got to keep improving. I like to win, ultimately I want to build a winning mentality, a goalscoring team that wins games of Football.”

“We need to find ways to win games of Football. I need to get the best out of the players. Gillingham Football Club is based on pride and passion.”

Meanwhile, Harris had special praise for new signing Ben Thompson and the almost 500 travelling Gillingham fans:

“The players want to be structured and they want to learn and get better. Thommo [Ben Thompson] is a top player; he hasn’t played a lot of Football over the last 12 months but we saw glimpses of his ball carrying ability, tenaciousness and aggression.”

“The fans that travelled made some fantastic noise, but they also had a performance to support. I’m immensely proud.”

“The 500 fans that were here will go down the A12 delighted with what they have seen; disappointed with the result, but buzzing with the performance.”

“The fact they have come off the pitch to a standing ovation, to walk in the changing room and be disappointed… We have to build; we are in tomorrow (Sunday), recovering, and we have a big game Tuesday.”

That big game on Tuesday comes round quickly for a Gillingham side that lost Danny Lloyd in the second half at Portman Road.

He is likely to be missing alongside Mustapha Carayol as Cambridge United come to Priestfield for what must really be a must win game.

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.