Saturday's clean sheet meant more than the goal for defender Alex Lacey.

He scored Gills’ second of the match against Portsmouth, just before half-time at Fratton Park.

But for Lacey, who is currently playing the defensive midfield role, his main concern was keeping Portsmouth out at the other end.

“The clean sheet was the main thing, to be honest, especially away from home against a team like Portsmouth and the goal is definitely a bonus," claimed Lacey.

“The whole team were fantastic, back to front, everyone did well. We narrowed down the spaces and made it difficult for them. It was a very good tactical performance and we left everything out there.

“They put a lot of crosses into the box and it was down to us to keep our shape and force them outside.

"The back four and everyone in front dealt with the crosses well and it was a great performance.”

Lacey’s goal doubled Gills’ advantage following Tom Eaves’ opener. He raced in at the far post to convert Dean Parrett’s low corner for what was his second goal in Gillingham colours.

“You don’t get many balls dropping to you in the six-yard box like that,” Lacey said.

“There was only one place I was putting it.”

Commenting on the goal from Eaves, he added: “It was a fantastic finish, I was right behind it, it was Bergkamp-esque. He does that in training a lot and it was great to see it in the game.”

With Gills’ eight-game winless run now behind them, Lacey hopes they can build on their first victory since August 11.

He said: “They hadn’t lost and had been in very good form, (so) to have gone here and put in that performance, we can take a lot of confidence from it.

"If we can beat the leaders we can beat anyone.

“I think it had been overdue and there was a sense of relief to get there.

“We have learned from our mistakes and put them into practice. We can take confidence from the win but it is just one game.

"We have to take a bit of momentum into next weekend now.”