Gillingham boss Steve Lovell had mixed emotions following their midweek defeat to Sunderland.

The 4-1 scoreline left him disappointed but his team’s attacking play, which went unrewarded, left him encouraged.

“I was very pleased with the performance overall,” he said.

Report: Gillingham 1 Sunderland 4

“But losing 4-1 is very disappointing. We gave at least two of the goals to them and that is what I don’t like, the way they got their goals.

“We had good possession, lost it and then they go through and score, you can’t give any teams a lift in this division, more so the Sunderland and Barnsleys. We have to learn from it but we had chances, a lot of chances, very good chances as well.

“We had a right good go, we gave everything we could have done in general play, in our movement and or passing, it was excellent, it was just that we couldn’t finish it off and they did.

“I thought they defended very well, they threw their bodies on the line, their keeper made a couple of good saves, it was a good game to watch but it was just disappointing the way that we lost the game.”

Tom Eaves had put the Gills ahead after just three minutes.

Lovell said: “We possibly scored too early, started too brightly and it kick-started them a bit. They scored a perfect time, just a minute (after Eaves’ goal) from a corner, but again we work on set plays and their fella has tapped it in on the near post. He should have been marked.

“These are the things the boys need to learn, they can’t make mistakes, because you will get punished against the better sides and that is what happened.

“They were clinical when we gave them the ball, but for the majority of the game I was very pleased, at times our passing and movement was excellent. We had a lot of chances but we just couldn’t finish it off.

“I am not too downhearted but I feel a bit gutted for the boys because they didn’t deserve to lose 4-1.”