Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth was a happier man after his team kept it clean at the weekend.
In stark contrast to their comeback 3-3 draw at Shrewsbury seven days earlier, the Gills again returned home with a point after being held at Colchester.
The game didn’t have the thrills and spills of the previous week but Ainsworth didn’t care one jot – even though the away fans might have preferred more excitement.
Asked if a goalless draw is better for a manager than 3-3, Ainsworth responded: “Absolutely, yes. As somebody who sets his team up to be organised, hard to beat, a 0-0 is definitely better than a 3-3.
“A 3-3 was better for the fans who’d travelled three and a half hours to Shrewsbury. It was great for them to see the goals and at least get a point.
“I’m not saying we’re going to get 0-0 every week, but it just shows we’re hard to beat. We’re resolute.
“I think everyone knows in the Gillingham end that, we were aggressive second half. We finished really well and I’m really proud of this team.”
As good as the draw is, Ainsworth knows that it can’t carry on forever.
Those points need to be turned into victories and that’s the aim when they host Barrow at Priestfield this Saturday.
“It says we’re hard to beat, without a doubt,” said Ainsworth, on Gills’ run of four straight draws. “I’d rather be hard to beat than a team that concedes.
“Draws are horrible because you’d rather win two and lose two, than draw four, points-wise. But performance-wise, you’ve got to give credit to the boys, they are hard to beat.
“It’s another clean sheet. It says that we’re building, but also I will point to the injury list.
“At the end on Saturday, Logan Dobbs and Louie Dayal are not getting on the pitch, because it would have killed them to get on there. They perhaps weren’t ready for that one.
“But we’ve got Josh Andrews, Sam Vokes, Johnny Smith, all these forwards. We’ve got some great players out. Conor Masterson, an absolute warrior, and Nelson Khumbeni, another competitive midfielder.
“In context, the draws are good because we’ve got a big injury list. But I’m not stupid. I know 46 draws isn’t a good season.
“So, we have to win some games and we’ll try that on Saturday.
“We’ve got to try and get the wins at home, because away from home, we’re very solid and tough to beat.
“We’ll have a 1-0 at home any day. I’m sure that the [final home] game before Christmas will be populated by a great amount of Gillingham fans.
“I’m sure they want to come and get behind us. Bluewater is open on Sunday, so get down and watch us on Saturday.
“We’re really looking forward to that game. There’s a few I need to get rested and recovered, but at home, we’re a force kicking towards that Rainham End, and anything can happen.”
Ainsworth also highlighted the bond between the club’s fans and the current playing squad.
Eight players who were ruled out through injury ended up watching the game against Colchester in the away end rather than sitting behind the visiting dugout.
“That injury list is hurting and, come Christmas, I’m hoping we’ll get some back,” noted Ainsworth. “One of the proudest things is about eight of the squad went on Saturday to watch the game.
“I’m not sure there’s other teams that go away from home and they’ve done it off their own back. They drove there, they were ringing up for car park spaces, can I come and support the boys?
“They want the boys to win. Some teams, the non-players want the boys to lose because they want a game.
“They were ready to run down the touchline, I’m telling you, in the last minutes. But that’s what we’ve got here. That’s what we’ve built, and the fans are included.
“It’s brilliant, and they’re not afraid to go in with the fans because the connection’s here now. We empty the tank, we’ll give everything, right? Any tactical stuff, blame me, fans can come at me, but effort-wise, praise them.
“We praise the fans who give us everything, and I want them fans to be able to go in the stand and go, ‘I’m with you, I want this team to win’.”
