Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill praised Gillingham’s spirit following his side’s 2-1 win in the FA Cup third round tie at Priestfield on Sunday.

James Milner converted a controversial late penalty to give the Premier League side victory, after Simeon Jackson had equalised an earlier strike by the England under-21 international.

O'Neill said: "Gillingham threw everything at us and the home fans got right behind their team. They were spirited so all credit to them.

"It was a really difficult cup tie. I thought it was going to be tough before kick-off and so it proved.

"If the players hadn’t thought they were going to be in a real cup tie, they knew they were after 10 minutes. It was just an exceptionally difficult game and we certainly never felt comfortable."