Tom Eaves admitted his penalty effort on Saturday was rubbish, but it did nothing to knock his confidence.

He went on to score twice against against Bradford in a 4-0 win and won’t be shying away from penalty responsibilities in the future.

Eaves, who took his goal tally to nine at the weekend, said: “I will step up again and take another one. I will put it in. That is football, you miss chances.

“It was a rubbish penalty, it was disappointing. All I could do was make it right and score, which I did.

“I am feeling confident every time I am going through on goal, that I am going to score.”

Eaves struck his first of the afternoon just three minutes after keeper Richard O’Donnell had saved his penalty, firing home after being picked out by Darren Oldaker’s long-range pass.

“It was a great ball,” said Eaves. “He managed to see the run and fair play to DJ, he brings us something different.

“He had a really good game, like he had played 20 games. He was fantastic, the whole team was really good.”

The Gills had been fortunate to go into the break level but Eaves and his fellow forward played an important role in turning the tide.

Eaves said: “The manager said he wanted us to press against the centre-halves and that was the turning point, we stopped them playing out.

“The midfield pressed from behind, we got some momentum and some passages of play and fair play to DJ Oldaker.

“It was so important to win, it feels so good just to win, to win at home and give the fans what they want. The changing room was rocking after the game and rightly so, it was a really good performance and a very pleasing day.”

Gills boss Steve Lovell was hoping Eaves didn’t take the spot-kick, joking: “I was thinking before it was taken ‘I hope Tom’s not taking it!’ I saw him hit a couple last season and they bobbled in.

“He has got the confidence to take them but (the miss) didn’t faze him, he then went through on his left foot and what a finish!

“He (later) hit the bar, I don’t know how he missed that, but he got two goals in the end – you can’t argue with that.

“He is a centre-forward and he has got two goals. He is getting better every week.”