Gillingham return to action at Wimbledon on Monday night and the captain admits they owe their fans a performance.

A poor display at Colchester on Boxing Day resulted in a 2-0 defeat, with many of the travelling fans making it clear exactly what they thought of the performance.

Report: Colchester 2 Gillingham 0

Ehmer and his team clapped those fans behind the goal at the end but the skipper knew they’d been shortchanged.

Reacting to being booed off by many, Ehmer said: “We’re sorry we couldn’t give them what they paid for.

“They have every right to do that but as a group we take that to heart and we'll make sure we try and put it right for the following game.

“We owe the travelling fans a massive performance and we'll work our best to do that.

“At the end of the day, it wasn't good enough.

“We lacked control in the game, we didn't win enough second balls, we didn't win enough first balls. (It was) just an all-round poor day.

“It's something we need to learn from quickly because we seem to be too inconsistent.”

That inconsistency has plagued the side for much of the season. The Gills have won as many as they’ve lost so far, with nine wins and nine defeats.

They had gone into the Boxing Day match buoyed by a positive performance against Cheltenham Town in their previous outing, showing much more attacking intent, albeit only taking a point in a 2-2 draw. The Gills had won their two games before that.

“There were opportunities to gain control of the game and we didn't take those moments,” said the defender.

“We looked like we might be in the game and then we conceded a poor second goal.

“It's something we as a squad need to learn and there's a lot to learn in that squad. We work every day and it's our job to make sure we perform.

“We lacked control, lacked quality at times and at times we could have got back into it, we didn't and we didn't make that count.”

The Gills always had a chance at 1-0 against Colchester but once they conceded a second - after a sloppy pass from Shad Ogie - it was game over.

Ehmer said: “When you're in the game at 1-0 down, you make sure at the back that you don't make silly mistakes. That's what we did and it's killed us.

“There were too many of us out there that weren't up to usual standards.

“They ran harder, they won more duels, so they made us switch in the second half to a shape that we played for a long time, 3-5-2.

“At times we looked good in it and at times we looked poor, too open and stuff, but you're always going to get that slightly when you're chasing the game. But shape for shape, you shouldn't get beat.”

It’s a trip to AFC Wimbledon next on Monday night (8pm).

The Dons are only four points better off than the Gills but they sit eight places higher in 5th, showing just how tight the division remains.

With good numbers set to be on their travels again, it’s an ideal game for the Gills to get back firing again.

Ehmer said: “In terms of our away numbers, they were superb on Boxing Day and we didn’t given them what they deserved so it's down to us to make sure we put that right against AFC.

“I think if you look at the loss column, there's too many games we've lost and we haven't scored enough goals and that falls on everyone to score goals because we all go up to set-pieces and stuff like that.

Manager Mark Bonner was as frustrated as anyone about the inconsistent nature of the team.

Ehmer knows it too.

He said: “We go from Cheltenham, Salford, all them games, and then we drop to where we were (at Colchester). At the end of the season, you won't be where you want to be if your season is like that.

“We're working hard every day on the pitch. No-one will say we aren't otherwise, but it matters on a game day how you produce.

“For us, we're almost lucky there's another game coming but you can only get away with it for so long because at some point the season ends and you'll be stuck in 13th place and that's what no-one in that dressing room wants.

“We're lucky we've got another game coming up but also we'll go through the (Colchester) game. You can't just put that to one side. At some point you need to own up to the errors and a lack of quality.”