GILLINGHAM player-manager Andy Hessenthaler has vowed to be more ruthless with his team selection after his side lost at home to Wimbledon.

Hessenthaler blasted his side for being complacent going into the 2-1 defeat against Division 1’s bottom club and threatened that under-performing players may get the axe.

He said: “We are too nice to each other at times and if it means I’ve got to be more ruthless in my team selection in future then that’s what will happen.

“I’m not happy. In the first half we didn’t play with enough tempo, which has been the key to our success over the years. My players were complacent but they will probably say they weren’t.

“We shouldn’t be chasing games at home. No disrespect to Wimbledon but they are at the bottom of the table.”

The Gills had been looking for their fourth win in five league games before the match. Hessenthaler was critical of his side’s defending after goals from Adam Nowland and Patrick Agyemang gave The Dons only their second victory on the road this season.

He said: “If you give poor goals away like we did then you are going to struggle. At the end of the day you can’t defend like that. The first goal was a poor goal and the second was just one ball down the middle and we got caught out.”

Gillingham’s defeat came in front of 9,041 people - Priestfield’s third biggest crowd of the season - after chairman Paul Scally gave away 3,000 free tickets for the match.

But Hessenthaler said pressure from the home fans may have got to his players as they attempted to salvage something from the game.

He said: “To go 2-1 down and at have to chase the game is difficult because people get frustrated, fans get frustrated and impatient and that makes it hard and you try too hard and things don't come off for you.”

It was not all doom and gloom for the Gills player boss, though. He was full of praise for the performance of goalscorer Nayron Nosworthy.

He said: “Nyron worked his socks off and he was a threat for us. He got a good goal but apart from that there weren’t too many positives for us.

“But we have got to stay positive or we’ll be back to square one where we lost four on the bounce."