Gillingham manager Steve Evans admitted he had to work hard to lift his team after the weekend defeat to Sunderland and needed a boost himself.

Evans got his team upbeat ahead of the midweek game at Crewe, which they won 1-0, and had his own family to thank for keeping his own spirits high during a difficult period.

The Gills had suffered five defeats in a row prior to the midweek win at Gresty Road, made worse by the amount of chances they had been missing. It was backs to the wall at times against a good Crewe team, who passed the ball well and opened the Gills up several times, but Evans’ side took maximum points to claim a much-needed boost.

“I had to work really hard after Sunderland ( the Gills lost 2-0 at home on Saturday ),” said Evans.

“We had the boys laughing and joking on the way up to Crewe. We wanted to go in good spirits and in a relaxed frame of mind and first half I think we were too relaxed!

"What we have got is a group of young men and we have said that we are going to have to lift the team’s spirits when they are having bad spells. That is what we have to do. Maybe five or 10 years ago I wouldn’t have had the patience to do it.

“They were down as a dressing room, as down as I have ever seen a dressing room after Saturday. We knew we shouldn't have lost. I know Phil Parkinson (the Sunderland boss) said we shouldn’t have lost, but we did.

“When it is a fifth defeat on top of how well we had played, you are thinking 'this is really disappointing'. We probably played better against Sunderland and Fleetwood and Ipswich than we did on Tuesday."

Evans thanked his own family for helping keeping his own spirits high.

“We have to remain positive,” he said.

“I have got two girls and they said, ‘just fill them will love, fill them with positivity.’ They were probably looking at me and saying ‘has Dad got that?’ Dad has got it and so a big thank you to my daughters.

“They said to me ‘believe and make your players believe’. They know we are not Real Madrid and we would have to work hard but the boys deserve it (the midweek win) and I am proud of every one of them because those five defeats in a row, four of them were undeserved, totally undeserved in three of them. I said we have to show another side of our game if we want to win.”

The Gills will now hope to climb back up the table, having slipped from as high as fourth, but league positions are of little concern to Evans right now.

He said: “I know they will do it but I say to them, ‘don’t look at where we are, just put in your head the performances.’ When we talk to them we talk to them about positivity and the good things they have done in the game.

“It is no point me telling young Scott Robertson that he should have headed the ball back into the box against Sunderland (he miscued a high ball and the visitors broke and scored). What I need to remind him of is that the first three or four games he had for the Gills, everyone was raving about him and he will get back to that level.”

Another player who Evans hopes will get back to top form is Tom O’Connor. He’s back from injury sooner than expected but was feeling it on Tuesday.

Evans said: “The boys on the bench were saying he had run over 13.5km before he went down with cramp, with a couple of minutes to go, but he wasn’t alone and we have had to work very hard.

“We will make some changes for Saturday (in the FA Cup game against Woking) because my focus has got to be League 1, it is such a tough league.”

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