Gillingham winger Jack Nolan was quick to turn his attention to a weekend match at Crewe – and a chance to get over their midweek setback.
The Gills lost 1-0 to Grimsby Town at Priestfield on Tuesday night – the first time they’ve dropped points at their own ground this season – after failing to find the quality needed to score.
It was a frustrating night for the Gills – who remain top of League 2 – but it’s all about the response now.
“We were all frustrated,” said Nolan, following their second league loss of the season.
“Fair play to Grimsby, they’ve nicked an early goal and defended really well.
“Our manager said it’s like being a boxer and giving all the punches and then still losing. Frustrating, but there were positives there to take.
“Some of the football we played was good, but we just need to bounce back now on Saturday.
“On another night the (chances) go in and it’s your night.
“As a squad we’ve got to be ready to play Crewe on Saturday to bounce back like we did when we lost to Doncaster.”
Gills’ only other league defeat this season was a 1-0 loss at Doncaster a month ago. Mark Bonner’s side responded with three straight wins.
That run came to an end with a surprise defeat to Grimsby.
Nolan said: “ We all want to win every game, that’s a given, but realistically you’re not going to do that all year, you’re going to lose games.
“I think it’s how you bounce back and not get into the habit of losing regular weeks.
“For us, it’s dust down, let the emotions sink in and come back on Thursday (for training) ready to prepare for Crewe.
“Fair place at Grimsby, they probably wanted to nick an early goal and then just defend, and they did that very well to be fair to them.
“I think a lot of teams will come here and play like that against us. We’ve got to be adaptive in ways we can win games, whether that’s going long or playing football, which I think we’ve done a bit of both really.
“It’s just keeping adding more strings to your bow to beat the opposition really.”
