Gillingham manager Steve Evans felt his side shaded Saturday’s draw with Lincoln.

The Gills fought back from conceding early and last season’s leading scorer Vadaine Oliver was unable to convert a golden chance with the sides level at one apiece. The match ended 1-1.

“We bossed the match for long spells and if I was Michael (Appleton, the opposition manager) I would be on the coach back to Lincoln saying I would take that point.

“I thought we should have won the game. For half an hour in the second half we were totally dominant and Lincoln were camped in.

“We probably never had that quality out of the locker. Kyle Dempsey felt his hamstring tighten and for the last 10 minutes we had to tell him to almost sit in the middle of the pitch and not move.

“I go away with a tinge of disappointment because of the big chance (for OIiver). He normally takes those bread and butter, but he didn’t. I told him not to be disappointed, he has had very few minutes in pre-season, the kid was badly affected by Covid but he is getting back to it now.

“Both sides had half chances but when I look for what they have, they probably had more players not stripped in the 18 man squad than we have probably got available to us. It is a commendable effort from our boys.

“I was very proud of the players. We have academy players on our bench who could have played for our youth team in the morning. We have 14 senior players and you can see the size of the clubs we are trying to compete against in the league.

“We go away disappointed but at the same time we recognise Lincoln City are going to challenge for sure, they are full of good players and for me a fantastic coach, and a fantastic man, from that point of view we have a point and we will try and build on that next Saturday.”

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