Manager Gareth Ainsworth hailed Gillingham’s youngsters after they stepped up against Championship opponents Charlton Athletic.
Gillingham had eight senior players out injured, and lost 1-0, but Ainsworth was keen to highlight the positive impact that those youngsters had after being thrown on in the second half.
Report: Gillingham 0 Charlton 1
The Gills ended the match with nine teenagers on the pitch, with rookie goalkeeper Lennon MacLorg and 23-year-old Nelson Khumbeni the oldest members of the team.
Ainsworth said: “I’m really happy with the performance and I think the fans were very right to applaud those youngsters off at the end. It’s a big moment for them.
“I don’t put any sort of massive emphasis on pre-season games. Not 3-0 in the week [at Dover], not 1-0 [against Charlton]. It’s really irrelevant.
“It’s performances, it’s fitness, it’s no injuries. We had a real bonus on 60 minutes with more or less our homegrown players coming on, with a couple of exceptions who weren’t with us right from the start.
“It was absolutely fantastic to see some of the young boys come on and get some first-team experience. That’s a first-team game in a pre-season friendly, brilliant, and I’m really proud of them.
“Me and [first-team coach] Pete [Gill] were shouting a lot. I didn’t want them to sit back. I wanted them to be brave and have a go, and they did. We had some good chances there.”
The Gills conceded shortly after the changes, with the young side going 1-0 down from a corner on 65 minutes.
From then on, they settled into the game, and showed plenty of encouraging signs as the contest opened up.
“I think when they came on, they were a little bit in the headlights,” Ainsworth said.
“Charlton still had some good players with Matty Godden on the pitch and [Keenan] Gough. There’s some quality on that pitch. [Nathan] Asiimwe and [Alan] Mwamba, really good players.
“You’re thinking, ‘Don’t sink, don’t be scared, boys’. For five minutes, I thought we dropped and became a deep block. I was like, ‘I don’t want this. Don’t go on there in your first ever [senior] pre-season game and be a deep block, be brave, go and push up’.
“We conceded after being a little bit deep, and we invited pressure. Myself and Pete have never shouted so much in the games, but getting Zach [Whitelock] and Louie [Dayal] and Cruz [Bezant], just pressing higher, like [James] Brophy and Nick Freeman and Seb Palmer-Houlden were doing in the first half, that’s my style.
“I wanted them to be a bit braver, and as we got more comfortable with the system, I thought we shocked Charlton a little bit.
“Obviously, you’re going to think they’re going to pop it around us because they’re a Championship side, but actually they didn’t.
“The boys did really well. They got the system right. Still some tweaks, still some individual detail that they need to play in League 2 for me. But I think it was a great lesson for some of those young boys to go, ‘Right, this is what it takes to play in League 2’. You’re playing as a Championship side in pre-season, so they’re probably not at full tilt, but this is what it takes.
“I think it’s opened a few of their eyes, and hopefully they’ll be a better player for it.”
Before the wholesale changes, Ainsworth’s senior side had frustrated their Championship visitors for an hour.
“The first 60 worked really well,” said the Gills boss.
“I thought we looked very solid. We knew we would be out of possession [for long periods]. It’s Charlton Athletic. There’s probably £8-10 million on that pitch from them. They’ve brought in players for £2 million and £3 million, and we haven’t.
“That’s really encouraging for me.
“We’re quite happy with the way we’ve played against a Championship side, two leagues above us.
“It was a really good showing from the boys, and there’s more to come, because I’m still missing a few players. We’re looking forward to it.”
