Martin Allen has revealed the unique pre-match preparations which helped his team get a result last weekend.

The Gills boss has routinely used board games to get his team united and last Friday night, before they faced Crewe in a crucial League 1 encounter, the players sat down to a picture quiz.

Allen said: "We made a quiz at my house on Thursday night before travelling up to Crewe on the Friday.

"Myself, John Schofield, Lisa (Allen’s partner) and Carl Muggleton, were working until about 2.30am, putting this picture quiz together for them from magazines.

"It was a full team effort, all of us, and then we played the quiz on Friday night at 8pm in the hotel.

"I just sat and watched because obviously I knew all the answers. I just knew sitting at that table we were going to win."

The Gills manager said before the game he would have accepted any kind of victory to end the club’s winless start.

But in the end his team won comfortably.

"It was a tremendous performance, there is no doubt about that," said Allen.

"Some people have said Crewe didn’t have a good day but I don’t agree with that.

"All of our players, with their attitude, right from last Monday through to 4.50pm, their attitude has been spot on and the staff are the same.

"We all hugged each other after the game at Crewe and you ask, ‘was the work worth it?’ Well the feeling in that dressing room was something you couldn’t explain to people on the outside.

"That is what we had last year and what got us to be champions. I am delighted for the players, absolutely delighted."

And he added with a grin, "It what was an intense week, a tiring week, but on Saturday night for that long bus journey home I just sat there quietly on the bus."

Allen gave the players Monday off but got them back in training for the rest of the week, ahead of a match against his former club MK Dons.

He said: "I thought it was important after having six days of full-on work and with the players all being away from home on Friday night to give them Monday off.

"We work Tuesday and are in Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We will re-visit all the coaching sessions from last week on the training ground.