Gillingham captain Shaun Williams on their defeat at Barrow and relegation battle in League 2
Published: 05:00, 03 April 2023
Gillingham midfielder Shaun Williams insists they still have work to do after the gap to the relegation places shrank at the weekend.
An injury-time defeat for the Gills came at the same time as Hartlepool hit a 94th minute winner against Swindon to complete a comeback and close the gap to those teams above them, sitting outside the relegation zone.
The Gills should be safe with 44 points and seven games left - with the club’s chief operating officer Paul Fisher tweeting after Saturday’s defeat: “Keep the faith. We will be okay.”
They have probably done enough but Saturday’s defeat - and a poor performance in general - was a big comedown from the week before when Williams hit a stoppage-time winner to beat Carlisle at Priestfield.
“You are not going to be the hero everyday,” said the Irishman.
And when asked if they felt safe, he added: “No, not at all, until it is mathematically impossible we have to push forward.
“I don’t think we deserved anything from the game (at Barrow on Saturday), we didn’t start very well, got punished early in the first half and individually and collectively we weren’t at it.
“I can’t put my finger on (the performance) individually I don’t think everyone as at their best and collectively that is how it showed.
“We played quite well first half in spells but overall we just weren’t up to it.”
Defeat meant the 320 away fans at Barrow went home without anything to celebrate.
Williams appreciated the support, saying: “It was amazing, to come such a long way, it was fantastic to have them behind us and unfortunately we couldn’t send them home with a positive result.”
At least the Gills are back at home on Good Friday, when they entertain Doncaster Rovers.
The Gills have won their last three games at Priestfield and taken 21 points from a possible 24 since the turn of the year.
Williams said: “We want to keep picking up the wins and hopefully we can do it on Friday.
“Teams play differently home and away, when we are at home we have the fans behind us and teams sit off us a bit more, we can play on the front foot, away from home we haven’t quite clicked and hopefully we can get that right.
“Hopefully back at home we can repeat the performances we have had there over the last couple of months, then once we get over the Doncaster game we can focus on Monday (away at Northampton).”
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Luke Cawdell