Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence won’t be letting a big FA Cup defeat sidetrack him.
Clemence believes his side are showing signs of improvement and back-to-back victories in League 2 have moved them within striking distance of the play-off places.
A 4-0 home loss to Premier League Sheffield United last Saturday was a disappointment, and something to take lessons from, but not part of the bigger picture which is league promotion.
Clemence said: “We have to move on and, for me, it is about how we do in the league. The boys will have a good week of training and be looking forward to Accrington Stanley (away on Saturday).
“The boys are unlucky with that scoreline, but Premier League players don’t need many chances to score and that is one of the big differences when you play at the top level and you play lower down the leagues. That has always been the case.
“There will be good lessons to be learned from our younger players on the pitch where they have played against an elite player and they know what that looks like a little bit more now.
“If they want to improve they have to learn from these people when they play against them.
“We want to be successful, and being successful is being at the top end of the table.
“There is a long way to go and the target for us is to have a better second half of the season than we had in the first and if we do that then hopefully we won’t be too far away from where we need to be.
“I am really happy with the group, it is a group I really enjoy working with. It might be up there with one of the best groups I have worked with in my career.
“They are a real decent bunch of lads. They are committed to the football club, they are committed to each other and they do want to improve.
“I am seeing signs in recent weeks that we are going in the right direction and I think the boys are getting more and more confident as each day goes by and with each performance.
“They can still take things on from that defeat (against Sheffield United). I will show them where they have done well for that and use it for the Accrington game and that is how we improve, by keep feeding back to them.
“But I am proud of the boys, disappointed with the result. It is nice to have a cup run, we have been beaten by a Premier League team and there is no real shame in that. The boys can be proud of themselves.”
As the Gills were in FA Cup action last Saturday, Clemence’s side dropped to 11th in League 2 after being overtaken by Crawley Town. Weekend opponents Accrington are a place above them in the table, ahead on goal difference.
Gillingham’s game at Barrow that was postponed in early December following a waterlogged pitch has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 5 – three days after their match at Salford.
