Mark Stimson paid tribute to his players after they responded to a week of gruelling training with a morale-boosting home win over Huddersfield.

The Gillingham boss threw extra fitness work at his match day squad ahead of Saturday’s test against the play-off chasers and the hard work paid off.

Stimson said: "I’m a massive believer that if you try and cut corners in training, you have to cut corners in matches, and in a match you can’t do that.

"The players worked extremely hard, especially at the start of the week, with two tough days of doing the horrible side of the game and working hard with the fitness man.

"There were some players who were probably surprised on Monday that they had to do some physical work, because it’s usually a technical day, but they did some on Monday and Tuesday. They got their rewards and I’m pleased for them."

Saturday’s win was the Gills’ ninth on home turf and they boast League 1’s best defensive record at home, with just nine goals conceded in 18 games. Stimson believes the fear factor could be playing into his team’s hands.

He said: "There is something about the place that gets results. We have to maintain that if we want to stay in this division but we also need results away."

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