Gillingham defensive display deserved more, that was the verdict of their manager on Saturday.

Andy Hessenthaler felt his team’s performance merited a share of the spoils against Bradford.

"I’m disappointed because we worked our socks off for 90-plus minutes and then conceded a soft goal at the end," he said.

"They were looking for only their second win. They’ve had an indifferent start like ourselves but we knew we could have got something from the game.

"To work so hard for that amount of time and then have it taken away right at the end is hard to take. But that’s how it is, you have to defend and concentrate for 90-plus minutes and we didn’t do that."

Even the absence for the first time this season of defender Tony Sinclair, who failed to recover in time from a back injury, failed to put the Gills off their stride.

"Defensively as a group we can’t really fault them up until the last minute," added Hessenthaler (pictured).

"Josh (Gowling) did great alongside Matt Lawrence, they defended really well. Barry Fuller wasn’t feeling that well before the game and nearly didn’t play but he defended for his life.

"It’s very hard to be too critical of them as we put ourselves in a position of going back to Kent with a point on the board."

Hessenthaler felt he had to make a formation change in the first half as Bradford threatened to run his team ragged.

Sinclair is expected to be fit for Gillingham’s home game with Burton on Saturday.

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