Martin Allen was pleased to see his side sharpen up on Sunday.

The Gills boss had called for improvements from his team after seeing them ship an average of two goals a game.

They may have lost again at the weekend, but Allen was boosted by the performance levels.

“If they keep playing like that then they are going to be fine,” he said.

“I enjoyed seeing our team to play. They were much more focused, much more concentrated and if you saw the goals conceded analysis DVD, which I have shown to individual players.

“Things had to improve and I think the players acquitted themselves very well. Things had to get better.”

The Gills defended deep at times on Sunday, relying on the counter-attack.

But Allen made no apologies for the way he set his side up.

“We had a game-plan to set out and try and frustrate them,” he said.

“I watched them the week before and they were fantastic. There was no way we could leave ourselves open.

“We knew where they were weak and we exploited them and we had enough chances in the first half. The lads put their bodies on the line and gave everything they have got and to lose so close to the end, from a set-play, with the players we have in our squad, that’s disappointing.

“It’s hard to take because the players put in a fantastic performance.”