Cody McDonald is sure Tuesday night’s win at Swindon set tongues wagging among their League 1 rivals.

McDonald scored twice in a 3-0 win over a side hoping to win automatic promotion this season.

He said: “We look at the results straight after a game and I am pretty sure a lot of the other teams would have done the same and gone ‘Jesus’.

“The lads have shown great character to bounce back like that after the disappointment of Saturday’s result.

“We knew they liked to play it out from the back and I don’t think a lot of teams will come here and press them as high as we did. We set out early to do that.

“I got in early doors (with a chance) and could have done better. The manager stressed it was the way we were going to approach it. Credit to the manager and credit to the boys for doing it.”

McDonald put the Gills ahead with a 29 minute back-heeled opener.

“I knew I needed to hit it pretty early because I knew that the defender was behind me,” said McDonald.

"I turned around and it nestled tightly in the corner. It could have gone wide or gone to keeper but when your luck’s in, it’s in. You need a bit of luck to try something like that and thankfully it went into the corner.”

Jake Hessenthaler headed in the second before another classy finish from McDonald, with his 16th of the season, made it 3-0.

Goalkeeper Stuart Nelson got the assist.

McDonald said: “They (Swindon) had gone to a back two at the end because they were pressing and as soon as it went back to Nels I thought ‘I better get on my toes here’.

“I should have got it under control the first time, because it came over my shoulder perfectly, but that maybe made it easier because it sucked the keeper in and I knew I just had to put it over him.”

The striker certainly enjoyed the goals and was happy to send the fans home happy after a win over their rivals.

McDonald said: “We knew about the rivalry and we were talking about it in the warm-up. I had forgotten what it meant for the two sets of fans until we heard a few of the songs before the game and it clicked.

“This meant a lot to the fans. To send them home with a performance like that and a result, I am sure they wouldn’t have expected it to happen, but we believe in ourselves and we were confident we could get three points. I don’t think 3-0 is unfair.”