Peter Taylor felt his Gillingham team could have shown more belief against Premier League Newcastle.

The Gills boss said: “The players couldn’t have worked any harder and they had to work hard because Newcastle had some very skilful players.

“The game is all about belief. At times we had belief and sometimes we didn’t.

“I was a bit disappointed with them first half, with the way we started. We played long balls and we didn’t try and link the midfield.

“But just before half time, Pritchard started playing to Hess, he started playing to Bradley Dack and then we started playing more. That’s when the belief came in.

“That’s the only thing I am disappointed in. We didn’t have 90 minutes of belief. We had it at certain times.

“That’s the main thing the players will learn out of it. When you go onto the pitch, whatever the opposition is, you have to go out there believing you are a good player and believe you can do the job you are in the team for. 90% of the time we did that but there were a few times we could have believed a bit more.

“They will come off the pitch and be quite pleased with the way they played, not all of them and sometimes you have to learn from it, but the majority of the boys put in a good shift off the ball and also showed some character on the ball.”

A near sell-out crowd was inside Priestfield and Taylor was glad everyone had the chance to enjoy playing against high-class opposition.

“It was fantastic,” said Taylor. “It was nice to have got through the first round and been given the opportunity to play against such a big club like Newcastle United.

“A lot of the fans don’t get a chance to watch Premier players and so it was brilliant that they did and brilliant that they turned up in numbers as well because that helps the club a lot.

“The discipline from the players was good, the effort was terrific and we worked hard as a team. I said to the players I have no complaints whatsoever on that front.”