Justin Edinburgh was critical of Notts County’s decision to axe manager Shaun Derry.

County sacked Derry in March, eventually replacing him with Ricardo Moniz, but were relegated from League 1 after a 3-1 defeat to the Gills.

Derry steered Notts to League 1 survival last season and Edinburgh felt he would have done the same again, had he had the chance.

Speaking after Gills’ win on Sunday, Edinburgh said: “In my honest opinion, they had a very good manager in place, in Shaun Derry. I think he would have comfortably seen the job through.

“He showed that in his love for the club and his drive and ambition last season. That may have played a part in the club not staying up.

“I know Shaun personally but I put that aside. He performed very well in his short 18 months there. I know they had a bad run just after Christmas but I think that was a lot to do with the loan players leaving.

“He knew the club and loved the club and sometimes you have to stick with that.”

Edinburgh promised that he would name a strong team on Sunday, despite nothing riding on the game for the Gills.

“We owed that to ourselves and first and foremost to our supporters,” he said.

“It is not cheap to follow a football club and home and away since I have been here they have supported us absolutely fantastically.

“Being our last home game, infront of our own crowd, you want to leave everyone here with optimism and happiness and a good performance. I certainly felt we gave that.

“In terms of Notts County, nobody would have had any concerns if we had gone down, so you have to look after your own house and that is what we have done.”