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Gillingham assistant manager John Schofield writes exclusively for the KM Group

John Schofield
John Schofield

We all knew Cheltenham would be a tough team to face and they were the best team we have played in the league so far.

But our players showed their flexibility when we changed the formation around early in the game.

We started with Myles Weston up top alongside Danny Kedwell but we dropped him off to play alongside Chris Whelpdale and it helped us both defensively and in an attacking sense.

It’s a credit to the lads that we can change the shape without having to make changes to the personnel and it just shows that they have been taking on board what we do in training and listening to what we are telling them.

Cheltenham are an athletic side, with a lot of pace but it was a good performance from us. We created the better chances and had the lion’s share of the play so we were quite happy with the performance.

We want to play a certain way but at times you have to tweak that and it’s a massive advantage if you can do that without making substitutions. Sometimes you need to do it to nullify their threat and you can catch the opposition out.

You always need something else up your sleeve for times like that, when things aren’t going how you want them to and that is one of the gaffer’s strengths. He is not afraid to do that. It is having confidence in the players that allows you to do that.

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