Manager Andy Hessenthaler was thrilled to see Gillingham come on strong in the end to brush aside Macclesfield at Priestfield on Saturday.

The Gills boss admitted it took time for his team to settle but in the end was pleased with the way his side played against a team fighting for their lives at the bottom end of League 2.

“We deservedly won and I thought we were terrific, under the circumstances,” said Hessenthaler. “There was a bit more pressure on it, because of Tuesday’s disappointment.

"We were hurting from that because we weren’t good enough. We had looked weary and tired but (on Saturday) we were unlucky not to score after a couple of minutes from a well-worked corner.

“On another day that could have gone in and if that had gone in it would have settled us down. They had a few corners and long throws, which we knew all about anyway, and they had a couple of free headers which we weren’t happy with.

"We gradually grew into the game and then we tried to get people like Jack Payne, Danny Jackman, Lewis Montrose and Chris Whelpdale onto the ball and get our full-backs joining in.”

It was one of his full-backs, Matt Fish, who netted the opening goal just six minutes into the second half.

Hessenthaler said: “Fish gets a bit of criticism on the pitch at times, when he makes a mistake, but he put in a fantastic ball early on where we should have been on the end of it and then he puts one behind the goal and the fans get on his back a bit.

“He is still a young boy and he has had a tough season with injuries. I thought he was first class and the goal we scored first half would probably fit in the Premier League. It was a great bit of play, great football and we worked it well.”

Chris Whelpdale added a second to make the game safe.

“At half-time we said we had to be patient and pass the ball,” Hessenthaler said.

“We couldn’t match them because we would get beaten up. The longer the game went on the better we got.

“There was some good play at times and it was unfortunate we didn’t get another one but offside was given against Spiller. I was pleased with the boys and it was a great response.”

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Gillingham celebrate their second goal against Macclesfield. Picture: Barry Goodwin