Manager Mark Bonner paid tribute to the character of transfer-listed Gillingham duo Oli Hawkins and George Lapslie.
Both came off the bench on Saturday to help the Gills to a 1-0 League 2 win at Morecambe, Lapslie scoring the winner and Hawkins heading against the bar late on.
Hawkins also netted after coming on at half-time during the midweek Carabao Cup loss at Swansea.
“Fair play to Hawks and Lapo, brilliant impact,” said Bonner. “They’ve not had an easy off-season with a bit of uncertainty which is the worst thing for players but their attitude and work with us has been class.
“They’re there and ready when we need them at either end of the pitch. Hawks ended up going up front having played centre-half a lot but he spent the last few minutes in the middle of our back four heading everything as well. He came really close with his header.”
The duo were among four players placed on the transfer list when the Gills announced their retained list just a week after Bonner was appointed in May. Ashley Nadesan has since joined National League Sutton on a season-long loan and Scott Malone was sold to League 1 Crawley for an undisclosed fee.
Hawkins and Lapslie remain on the transfer list but are getting more game time than they may have expected given Gillingham’s early-season injury list.
There is no doubt, however, that the pair are quality performers at League 2 level although Bonner didn’t want to be drawn too much on what is going on off the pitch.
“The situation isn’t really for me to speak on today,” Bonner stated after the win at Morecambe. “Credit to them for their character and professionalism to just work, graft and contribute, that’s the team that we want to be.
“You can be out of it, out of favour, not in the squad one week and then starting the next – all that happens in the story of a football season.
“I guess you’ve just got to ride it out, keep your head and make an impact. They are big personalities and they’ve delivered for us again and everyone has found a way to get a result.
“We don’t want that to be the story of the season but we’ll take it if it has to be, we have to find ways of winning. To start with two (wins) is good and really encouraging to get a clean sheet away from home.
“But I think over the next month the level of games will go up for obvious reasons with teams improving and getting better in the early stages.
“I look at some of the opponents we’ve got coming and we’ve got some really good sides ahead so we’re going to have to keep improving to keep matching teams.”
Bonner did meet with the duo during pre-season to discuss their current status.
Whatever was said has clearly had a positive impact, but the Gills boss wanted to keep those conversations private.
“That’s for me and them – that’s not for anyone else,” said Bonner. “I have those conversations all the time, I speak to players every day so having a conversation is just normal for me.
“I do it every day over eggs or coffee or on the training pitch, wherever it is. That’s just the way we try and work.
“I’ve had conversations with them as well as everybody else about where are we, what we need to improve on. Any player that is here, our job is to make them better and to hope they can contribute, they’ve done that.”
