Striker Deon Burton has told Gillingham’s senior pros that they have a duty to guide their less experienced teammates through tough times like the frantic final 20 minutes at Accrington.

The 36-year-old (pictured celebrating his goal at Morecambe), who played three games for Jamaica at the 1998 World Cup and appeared more than 100 times for Premier League Derby, is on a one-year contract at Priestfield after a stint in Azerbaijan.

Burton revealed that when things got tough at the Crown Ground on Saturday, it was time to use his experience.

He said: "When the going gets tough you have to have a word in their ear to make sure they stay calm and keep doing the right things.

"To come here on a cold winter’s night and grind out a point after going down to 10 men, I think the boys did tremendous.

"When we went down to 10 men the boys showed the determination and the spirit to make sure we didn’t come away with nothing.

"We have to be happy with a point after going down to 10, especially with 20 minutes to go in bad conditions against a team who fight right to the death. We just have to dig in, we are top of the league and we want to stay there. You have to come to these places and grind out a result.

"At the end of the day we’ll take the point but if we had kept 11 (on the pitch) we definitely would have come away with all three."

Picture: Barry Goodwin