Gillingham 0 - 0 Yeovil Town

GILLINGHAM manager warned his underperforming players to expect the chop after the club's dreadful run continued on Saturday.

Cooper was left fuming with his side's inept display in the goalless draw with Yeovil Town at Priestfield and is prepared to make major changes in a bid to add some bite to a toothless Gills team.

The boss couldn't hide his disappointment after the match, which saw the players booed off the field after looking second rate against a side who were until recently playing non-league football.

Cooper said: "I was hurt and the players felt my wrath after the game. That's the first real time I've done it. The fans didn't enjoy it and I didn't enjoy it and we won't try and cover up. I thought the crowd was quite generous after the game.

"I'm sorry about the performance. I can only apologise. If I have to make changes I'll put young kids in with a bit of grit and determination. It's no good doing well in training and looking the part if you don't have the bottle to play at your own ground.

"It's not what I'm after and you need to be a strong character. At the end of the day we were fortunate to get a point."

Cooper indicated his intention to make changes when the Gills travel to Bradford on Saturday.

He said: "Players who have the mental character can go and perform and battle against teams like Bradford away from home and play to get either a win or something."

Gillingham's hopes of beating Yeovil went downhill on 74 minutes with the dismissal of young striker Moses Ashikodi, who was booked twice in three minutes.

Cooper refused to defend the on-loan forward. He said: "[Ashikodi] was a stupid boy. Everyone's been saying that he shouldn't have been booked for the first one. But he was and that means you've got to have a bit of common sense about you. He lunged in with the second challenge and it was a booking."

* FOR A FULL MATCH REPORT, PICTURES AND ALL THE POST-MATCH REACTION, SEE MONDAY'S MEDWAY MESSENGER.