Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler believes Tuesday’s clash with Crawley provided a learning curve for young defender Connor Essam.

Essam and fellow defender Simon King faced a tough evening against Crawley’s on-loan strike force of Gary Alexander and Leon Clarke.

Both players dropped down a level to help Crawley’s promotion campaign and Alexander, in particular, gave the Gills a torrid time.

Hessenthaler said: "It was a tough game and an eye-opener for young Connor.

"He will have learned a lot from that because Alexander is a good striker. They pushed us back and in the air it was always going to be tough for them.

"We knew they (the strikers) would go up for challenges and the midfield players would run off that. That was exactly what they did."

Essam was brought into the side for his debut in February, due to an injury crisis at the back and the 19-year-old has made a big impression. He has started eight of the last nine matches.

Crawley won the game thanks to an early second-half strike and Hessenthaler said: "The goal came from one straight ball. Unfortunately Connor slipped and they scored. These things happen.

"He will be better for that because he won’t come up a better two in this division. They are big, strong boys."

Connor Essam wins the ball in the air against Crawley Picture: Barry Goodwin