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Gillingham’s fighting spirit was a major plus for manager Neil Harris as they picked up another point in their survival bid on Saturday.
A 1-1 draw at Morecambe, coupled with results elsewhere, means it's as you were with the League 1 table. The Gills remain third from bottom, five points from safety.
It’s another plus for Harris as he makes it seven points in four games since taking over - a big upturn from their earlier form.
Harris said: “We didn’t deserve to win the game, on the level of play, I have got to be honest.
“Morecambe had a lot of the football and didn’t cause us too many issues, other than a couple of set-pieces in the first half, but what it did highlight was that again I have a group that will give me everything, that will dig in and defend and we have moments of quality.
“We have to be better with the ball, that’s for sure, because we gave ourselves too many problems when we turned the ball over cheaply.
"Positives? I have been here 12 days and we looked like a team that is willing to fight, is well organised, structured, but again it’s the same group of players that have pretty much played every minute of every game since I have been here, barring Danny Lloyd, because we haven’t got the strength in depth at the moment, with the injuries.
“All I can say is, two things, firstly to my players, seven points out of 12, on the back of three wins in 27 games [before he took charge] is a great achievement for the players and secondly to the fans who came and got behind us. I understand a few of them had issues on the way up, it was a longer journey, the message is a positive, it is another point, another bit of momentum, and a tough place to come.
“We battled, we were resolute when we had to be, I thought it was probably their worst performance but arguably understandably so because of four games in 10 days with the majority of the players who have played the minutes in the other games and it was a real tough as for them.
“We need magic moments at the moment. We had a late winner on Tuesday (against Cambridge), to get us a win. We have had a 25-yarder from a player [Ryan Jackson put Gills ahead on Saturday] who doesn’t get many goals for us and they are key moments for us. It just builds that momentum and belief and it keeps us going.
"For the 300 who were there, they saw a disciplined performance and backs to the wall at times, in tough conditions, but they take that memory home of Ryan Jackson’s goal. Those fans got behind the group.
“It was difficult, I was asking some players to play who I should never have asked, with fatigue levels and illnesses, but the players want to play and they want to play for the club, they wanted to have a go. Someone like Olly Lee, he needed to come off the other night, shouldn’t have played, but he did, he wanted to play and I played him, we had to get him off. David Tutonda shouldn’t have played, Vadaine Oliver missed a chunk of the season, he had 10 days off before I came in, he has just had three games in seven days.
“It is a massive ask, we are what we are squad size wise, I can only praise the players and the whole football club really, how proud I am after the first 12 days in charge.”
