Gillingham head coach Ady Pennock has taken encouragement from their second half display at MK Dons.

The Gills were 2-0 down at the break, after a woeful first half, but battled back to draw level in the 90 minute.

They conceded again at the death to lose 3-2.

Pennock said: “It was a kick in the teeth and the first half wasn’t good.

“We were giving them too much space and we conceded two poor goals.

“The first was a very good strike but we gave the ball away in a poor area. With the second one it was like a hot knife through butter, through our defence. It was 2-0 at half-time and that wasn’t acceptable.

“A few things were said at half-time and the way we played when we came out was good, but we just didn’t manage the game again at the end. That was bitterly disappointing for me.

“That (second half) gives us a lot of encouragement going forward into the last five games and that is what we have to look forward to, we have to play with a bit more freedom and less worry.

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“I don’t know if it was because we were 2-0 down but we played much better. We got the ball down in good areas and passed it and we had more freedom, we closed them down better and we had chances.

“Lee Martin had a chance, Cody did, and we scored twice. It’s another game that has got away from us because of the first half.”

Pennock was at Shrewsbury on Tuesday night as the hosts were beaten by Millwall.

That result, along with others at the bottom end of League 1, went Gills' way, leaving them one place higher in 19th going into this weekend.