Manager Martin Allen admitted he had to make changes as Gillingham finally ended their winless start to the season on Saturday.

The Gills recorded their first victory and first clean sheet of the season with a 3-0 success at Crewe. Gillingham went up seven places in League 1 with the three points – moving off bottom spot to go 17th.

"Something had to be done,” said Allen, who dropped Leon Legge from defence and replaced him with youngster Callum Davies.

“We couldn’t just carry on as we were and that’s what I do. You may upset a few people but the results weren’t there anyway so there were no worries about upsetting anyone.

“It’s about making our supporters happy and putting in good performances.

“It has been a long week with the training sessions and I don’t think I have ever put on as many in one week in all my life. We have gone through the books and the DVDs and all the normal stuff that I do when clubs are struggling.

“It is not a million miles away but as a manager it is my job to tweak those bits, make decisions, change the team, change the personnel, change the players and adjust it. That’s what you have to do. It was back-to-basics and the players carried it out to a tee.”