Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth conceded after Saturday’s 5-0 hammering at Cambridge that some of his players just aren’t up to it.
A long injury list has meant Ainsworth bringing fringe players into the spotlight, but successive heavy defeats have led to him desperately needing his first-choice players back.
Report: Cambridge 5 Gillingham 0
The Gills were hoping to bounce back from a midweek thrashing at home by MK Dons, but instead looked a worse outfit, as they were thumped 5-0 at Cambridge United.
Ainsworth said: “We have to defend better, we have to be stronger, we have to be more robust.
“We’re in a pretty poor situation at the moment.
“I just don’t think some players are good enough, and I’ve got to make changes there.
“We didn’t score, we didn’t hit the target. [It was] a terrible result. We went one-nil down after one minute. It’s just not good enough.
“[I was] devastated to lose 5-0 [against] a very strong team and while we’ve had our injury crisis, we’ve played second, third, and we’re about to play fourth [Swindon] in the league, and that doesn’t go well.
“We seem to have had it tough on the fixtures, but you’ve got to play everyone. You’ve got to stand up to it, some of the boys didn’t.
“I think the fans deep down know that when I get my best XI out there, we are a competitor in this league, but my next XI isn’t good enough, and that needs to get sorted.”
The Gills conceded after just two minutes at Cambridge and never recovered.
They were 2-0 down at the break, conceded twice more early in the second half and Cambridge added a fifth late on.
Ainsworth had several senior players back from injury but they weren’t deemed fit enough to start.
Sam Vokes replaced Nelson Khumbeni at the break. Omar Beckles, Armani Little, Bradley dack and Gareth McCleary came on in the second half to replace Lenni Cirino, Jonny Williams, Seb Palmer-Houlden and Aaron Rowe.
“When you’ve not got your best tools in your bag, you struggle to do the job properly,” said the Gills boss.
“Them coming back is big, but with losing Ethan Coleman midweek again, it’s another big name that is on the injury list, so we’re going to have to find a way, and that’s what I’m saying to the boys.
“Injuries is one thing, but you’ve got to stand up to set-pieces, you’ve got to fight, you’ve got to scrap.
“I feel responsible because there were some players in there that came in after me, and I’ve got to take responsibility.
“The injuries coming back was the bright spark, as was [first-year professional] Harry Waldock, who I thought had a cracking game. He didn’t deserve to be in a 5-0 defeat, and he’ll have a career, but on [that] performance, not everyone will.
“The performance, especially up to when I was able to make the changes, was not good enough by any means, terrible.
“[There is] some real thinking now for the boys, and for me.”
