Steve Evans was thrilled with his Gillingham team’s response at Peterborough after admitting they were rock bottom after their weekend defeat.

The Gills let slip a 2-0 lead at Oxford to lose 3-2 but bounced back with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at second placed Peterborough United on Tuesday night.

Manager Evans had voiced his frustration at the individual errors that had cost them at Oxford but leading into the game at Peterborough he lifted them back up by reminding them of what a great performance it had been before letting the lead slide.

Reacting to Tuesday’s win, he said: “They were terrific and they were terrific at Oxford, all barring a bad 10 minutes or so, with two or three individual errors. The boys were as flat as I had seen any football team.

“I had one or two Oxford players texting me privately to say it was harsh but we picked them up and told them very honestly on Monday morning that it was one of the best, if not the best performances of the season, and to believe.

“We knew we would have to be at our best against Peterborough and to have a little bit of luck along the way and I think that summed it up, we were very good in what we set out to do, good tactically, good shape, we ran a lot and we had to hope that when they had good half chances they didn’t take them.

“We didn’t go away with any other sense than it was a hard earned victory against a team I desperately hope will be playing in the Championship next year. Ideally they will be in the Championship and we go up in the play-offs but it is a big stretch for us now.”

Peterborough had only lost two of their previous 20 games at home in the league this season. Nobody had a better home record in the division.

But the Gills not only won but they kept a clean sheet, keeping 30-goal striker Jonson Clarke-Harris quiet along with some other talented individuals.

Evans said: “Tucker and Cundy were great, they were having to deal with Clarke-Harris and Sammie Szmodics, a goal machine, then I am looking at Connor Ogilvie and Ryan Jackson, up against Siriki Dembele and Joe Ward, my midfield were having to compete with two of the best in the league.

"My big striker has to deal with Frankie Kent, a £6-700k signing and Mark Beevers who has got more promotions out of this league than anyone I think as a player, and a brilliant manager. I know I had words with him but he is brilliant.

“We rode out luck at times and they had a couple of half chances but I think if we had of lost it would have been harsh given what happened to us on Saturday.

“We have not conceded and that is tremendous. Credit to all of my players, they stood up and were in the trenches and they fought.”

Report: Peterborough 0 Gillingham 1