Gillingham manager Mark Bonner delivered a final message to his squad before their weekend game – one captain Max Ehmer has backed up.
The Gills have been troubled by numerous injuries and unavailability since the start of the season – with seven potential starters missing at the weekend – but they’ve managed to keep picking up the wins regardless. Squad depth has been key.
A 1-0 win at Notts County was arguably their most eye-catching result so far and came after manager Bonner had reminded his players of the importance of everyone being able to contribute, saying to them: “It will take all of us” in his address at the end of their pre-match team meeting.
Bonner had already highlighted to the media the importance of substitutions this season so far and they came up trumps again at the weekend, with Oli Hawkins there in central defence heading away a couple of late desperate balls into the box from the home side, having been introduced on 89 minutes.
Ehmer said: “The boys who started the game and then the boys who went on made a massive difference.
“We always talk about it as a squad game. Hawks has come on at the end there, obviously next to me at centre half, and he’s a beast. He’s headed four or five away in a matter of minutes.
“Jack Nolan comes on, Jacob Wakeling. It’s a real squad thing and it’s important everyone’s ready and whoever’s got the shirt, tries and keeps the shirt but then when it’s your turn to come on, you make sure you put in the performance like we did.
“That’s the case for the whole season going forward.
“There’s going to be rotation. Boys won’t be able to play every game, so just making sure that whoever’s coming in to the starting XI, make sure they put in a shift.”
Ehmer’s missed one game through suspension and has been a key man in helping keep five clean sheets from their opening seven games.
Weekend opponents Notts County had the best goals-scored record before their meeting, but the Gills kept them out.
Ehmer said: “We pride ourselves on having a good shape and stuff and especially when go away to grounds like that with teams playing as expensive as they do.
“It’s making sure that we’re all in the right positions and stuff like that and our shape was excellent.
“We limited their chances. I know they’ve had a disallowed goal, two shots from outside the area, but apart from that we kept them as quiet as probably anyone has this season.”
Notts felt aggrieved at a late disallowed goal and a penalty appeal turned down but Ehmer felt the offside decision was the correct call and that both teams should have had a spot-kick.
Describing the goal that wasn’t, he said: “The cross comes in, the guy in between Shad and the goalie has flicked it on to the guy who was a yard inside the six-yard box and he was offside.
“I didn’t think he (the referee) was going to give it, but he did actually touch it, so it was the right call. He made a right decision.”
And on the penalties, he added: “That’s a penalty (for us), that’s a penalty (for them), so it works itself out and we won the game.”
Assistant boss Anthony Hayes had spoken about Bonner’s pre-match message, saying: “We had a meeting (on Saturday) before we came (to the ground), and Mark’s last message was, ‘It will take all of us’.
“That’s over a 46-game season as well, plus cup games, and at the minute, that’s what we’re getting. We’re getting players that are coming in from the wilderness, the cold, and they’re performing.
“We need to get better every day and we want that environment where players love coming into work, but they want to train, they want to get better.
“We’re going along a journey together. I think that’s the exciting thing, is that we’re seeing progress week by week, game by game. It’s our job as a group of staff to keep that going.”
