Manager Gareth Ainsworth had ‘no regrets’ over subbing Conor Masterson on Saturday and insists he won’t take any injury risks.
The Gills had just gone 2-1 down against Grimsby Town when Ainsworth switched from a four-man defence to a back three, replacing centre-half Masterson with striker Sam Vokes.
Gillingham conceded a minute after the switch and then a fourth, before Ainsworth changed things around again, giving Watford loan defender Travis Akomeah a run-out as forward Garath McCleary was withdrawn.
By then, the Gills were 4-1 down and hoping for the full-time whistle.
Ainsworth said: “You try and get back in games…I don’t regret taking Conor off, because Conor’s struggling. He’s nowhere near ready for a 90 yet.
“I’m glad I protected Conor and Garath. People will raise their eyebrows about Garath. ‘Why did you take him off?’ He’s 38 years old.
“The last thing we need is him popping his calf in the 90th minute and not being able to feature for the rest of the season.
“These are all things that people don’t see but I have to manage and I’m fine doing it.”
Midfielder Robbie McKenzie was missing on Saturday after damaging his ankle in the midweek game at Cheltenham. Defender Andy Smith was also absent after breaking his nose in the same match.
The Gills were already without centre-halves Omar Beckles and Shad Ogie.
“I’m not going to risk anyone getting injured at this stage of the season,” Ainsworth said.
“It’d be crazy to do that but we do need to learn from the mistakes [of Saturday].
“The boys will be in watching the video and I’ll be saying, again, very similar messages. Another set piece. We’re very weak on a set-piece defending this year. We have to improve on that.
“There are three or four things that we need to bring up and, seriously, they keep recurring, and that’s the problem.”
McKenzie had only just come back from an injury that had kept him out for seven games. He returned in the week at Cheltenham.
“It’s not a recurrence,” Ainsworth said. “It’s a tweak on his ankle.
“He got it in front of the dugouts in Cheltenham on Tuesday night when he flew into a tackle. That’s tough to take.
“Robbie McKenzie would play through most things, but I think the physios are saying a lot that he can’t play through this one.
“We can’t get it going into a bigger grade and out all summer. He needs to be fit for pre-season. Will he feature in the next couple of games? Maybe.
“Andy Smith as well. He’s talking with a very blocked nasal area now. He’s broken his nose. It got reset but I don’t know whether the medical team will release him for next week or what, but we’ll have to see.
“Two big players. Andy scored at home last week and we weren’t good at attacking corners [on Saturday]. We didn’t really create too much. That’s a miss.”
