Craig Fagan credited the silence at MK Dons for assisting him with Tuesday's match winner.

With the MK stadium less than a quarter full it made communication for the Gills easy.

Fagan collected a back-heel from McDonald to drive home Gills' winner with 50 minutes on the clock.

Reacting to his goal, he said: “A lot of it was down to Cody (McDonald). I was shouting at him to back-heel it and luckily enough he heard me.

“If this stadium was full to the brim I am not sure he would have heard me. It helped that it was quite empty and he could hear what I was saying.

“He back-heeled it to me and i just put it into the back of the net.”

The Gills spent the rest of the match defending as MK Dons desperately and unsuccessfully looked for a way back into the League 1 match.

“It was a massive team performance,” said 31-year-old Fagan.

“The lads were gutted after the weekend’s performance and we wanted to go out and give a better account of ourselves. I think we did that.

“Everyone worked their socks off and I wouldn’t say anyone let the team down. Everyone gave their all and we have managed to go to a team pushing for the play-offs and get a result.

“We had the work ethic and the lads all work hard for each other.”

Victory came off the back of a disappointing weekend result at Crewe, where the Gills had lost 3-1 and performed badly.

Fagan said: “Everyone was disappointed after the last result and we had a chat between ourselves and with the manager. We are a group that want to put things right on the pitch and we showed that.

“They (MK Dons) had a lot of possession but defensively as a team we worked hard and nullified their attacks.”

Fagan’s goal was his first in Gillingham colours after 16 appearances and the former Hull City forward hopes it won’t be the last.

“It is good for myself,” he said.

“I am pleased to have got off the mark and hopefully I can get some more goals between now and the end of the season.”