Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth is confident his team won’t go the way of those in the previous two seasons.
The Gills were on a club-record 21-game unbeaten run before losing 1-0 at home to Harrogate Town last Saturday, the first defeat for Ainsworth since taking charge of the team nine games before the end of last season.
Defeat saw the Gills lose their place at the top of League 2 and they now head to MK Dons for a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.
The Gills started last season in good form, top of the table in October, but suffered a slump and finished 17th. They held top spot in the opening two months of the previous season, too, but ended 2023/24 in 12th.
Ainsworth’s certain things will be different this time around.
He said: “There’ll be no one feeling sorry for themselves. There’ll be no one thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’.
“People can compare us with past years all they want. This is a different team. This is a Gillingham team that I’m in charge of and I will get the best out of every single week.
“That’ll mean running your socks off at MK Dons and trying to get as many goals as we can.
“We’ll go to win that game, as they always do. I’m proud of the boys and I’m glad they’re disappointed [after last Saturday] because that means it hurts. We’ll get back soon.
“It’s been a great run. In a way, it’s not the worst thing in the world to come off it.
“People are always saying, ‘When are they going to get off it? When’s it going to happen?’.
“It’s happened. I want to see the reaction now from fans, staff and players.
“I want to see the reaction of people but I’m super positive. I know we can go and beat anyone in this league.”
Bouncing back won’t be easy, with Ainsworth set to miss the trip to MK Dons due to a planned heart operation tomorrow (Friday) and they’re facing a well-resourced team that have so far struggled to meet their own expectations.
“I want to see the response of the boys,” he said.
“They’re a bunch that are hurt, but I know what they’re capable of.
“Hopefully we can get back and start winning some games again.
“Third in the table at this stage of the season is very, very good. For where this club has been, I’ve always said I’ll come in and I’ll improve from what I came into. I think everyone
can say that’s certainly happened.
“We’ve lost one game in 22, which is crazy to think of. We’ll get back on it and look forward to getting stuck into the boys, train them right, get them right.
“I’ve got a brilliant staff and a brilliant support team to help.”
Gillingham’s scoring run also ended last weekend, just shy of a equalling a club record for netting in consecutive league games. They stalled at 18, with the record at 20.
Ainsworth’s men looked to have got to grips with scoring goals – a major problem in the past four seasons. They created plenty at the weekend but just couldn’t finish.
“We had 18 or 19 shots, which is an absolute bonanza of shots,” said the Gills boss.
“You just have to hit the target. You’ve got to put them in the goal and that’s what we’ll probably be working on.
“When I turned up, that was what I was told was missing. I think the chances were missing, creating chances and everything. At least we’re creating them now.”
