Goalscoring defender John Egan has backed Gillingham keeper Stuart Nelson to recover quickly from Saturday’s error against Port Vale.

Nelson failed to deal with Michael Brown's 94th-minute shot that crept into the net and handed Vale a point in League 1.

Egan, who netted twice in the 2-2 draw, said: “The ball took a wicked bounce and I am not sure he could do much about it but everyone rallied around him.

“Nobody is getting on his back, because they know he is a great keeper and he is a good character. He will be fine. He held his hands up straight away.

“Nels is a strong character; he is a big member of the squad and a big personality in the dressing room. He will come back stronger from this, no doubt.

“Everyone makes mistakes, it happens every week in football in nearly every game and if you are the keeper it is always highlighted because it ends up in the back of the net.

“You can make mistakes higher up the pitch and there are people to cover your back. But when you are at the back or in goal there isn’t really anyone there covering your mistakes. You have to try and make as few as possible.

“We were all devastated inside that dressing room but it’s a good thing to be devastated after a draw because it shows we want the three points so bad."