Peter Taylor praised Gills’ battling spirit following their 1-0 victory over Crawley on Saturday.

Taylor felt the performance could have been better but his players kept going and were rewarded with Charlie Lee’s 87-minute winner.

The result moves Taylor’s men six points clear of the League 1 relegation zone and the Gills boss said: “I’m absolutely delighted with three points. It’s a very important three points for us.

“The performance was nowhere near what we want.

“It was a nervous performance but for effort and everything else, the way the players kept going, I couldn’t ask for any more.

“As much as we know we can do a lot better, I still say their goalkeeper made more saves than Stuart Nelson did.

“They put us under pressure with some good play but their finishing probably disappointed John (Gregory, Crawley boss) because they didn't hit the target.

“But we also had a couple of good chances as well and, as I say, in the situation we’re in there’s going to be games like that.

“One thing any manager can ask of his players is to keep going and not drop your heads.

"That’s what we did and that’s where the players deserve so much credit.

“It’s not all about not playing as well as we’d like. That happens.

“Sometimes players should get some praise and backing on the strength of them keeping going.”