Newcastle boss Alan Pardew knew his team would face a difficult challenge at Priestfield and wasn’t disappointed.

Pardew believed his team dominated the Capital One Cup second round tie but acknowledged the effort from the hosts in making things tough.

He said: “The scoreline didn’t really reflect our dominance. I have been here many times as a manager and as a player and I’ve done a lot of scouting here and I know it’s a difficult place to come.

“We controlled the game more or less all the way through. I am just a bit frustrated that we didn’t score more than the one.

“It was difficult to penetrate their three centre halves. They didn’t really move much and every cross was dealt with. They were difficult to break down.

“But I can’t be disappointed. I thought our application to the game was great and the two centre halves typified that, particularly the skipper. Absolute respect we showed Gillingham and that’s how you get wins at these places.”