Gillingham boss Steve Evans felt his side could have won by more at Lincoln had they been more ruthless in the opening half.

Evans’ men registered a 3-0 win at Sincil Bank thanks to first half goals from Vadaine Oliver and Kyle Dempsey and a penalty late in the game from Jordan Graham.

Reacting to the win, Evans said: “We have had a lot of outstanding results and that is credit to the boys, they are working so hard.

“We started in a sloppy fashion in the first 10 minutes but we then went infront and by the interval we should have been five up, we had four or five clear cut chances, we don’t take them.

“That is always a worry against the type of players that Michael Appleton [the Lincoln manager] has, with the big resources to sign good players and you see who he is bringing on, like Anthony Scully, you know it is going to be tough.

“Second half we had to keep our shape, our discipline and keep the ball well at times and then we would have a chance. We missed a couple, they had a couple of shots from distance, a penalty which is a penalty and Sincil Bank is a place I normally win, so it was good.

Lincoln had more of the ball but the Gills limited them to just two shots on target, one saved superbly by keeper Jack Bonham and the other a relatively comfortable take.

It was all down to hard work which delighted the manager.

He said: "We have to focus on working hard, we have some real talent, and if we can get them working as hard as they can possibly work we will win some football matches. I think we wanted to win more than Lincoln wanted to win, that is what it looked like, maybe others will have a different view of the game

“We had to be solid, strong, very industrious, and take opportunities when they came and 3-0 if anything probably flatters the home side.

“We were strong tonight in a lot of areas, we had a real good intensity to our performance, we all know the first half could have been five or six, very comfortably with the chances we missed, but I would rather be a manager in charge of a team that misses chances and is creative rather than one that doesn’t.

“The other side of the game, the boys were brilliant, they were chasing lost causes, getting their heads in the way and I was really pleased with all of them.

“We have some extremely talented players and it is about getting them to work as hard as they have done in the last few games. You look at Jordan Graham, he is defending on the byline, the same as Alex MacDonald. Kyle Dempsey and Stuart O’Keefe do it every game anyway.

“We had real energy from the front two, the full backs were strong, supported when they could.

“There was a lot written about the game before, not by us I might add, a lot said, we won’t be doing what happened at our place, we won’t be singing songs, we left the pitch very quietly, we praised the boys but told them it is now about recovery for Saturday.”

Before the match City boss Appleton had labelled Evans' claims about comparative budgets as comical. The Lincoln manager said he would be "happy putting budgets on tables for everyone to see."

After Tuesday’s game, Evans said: “They can say what they like about putting budgets on the table but I think he would run and hide if he had to put it on the table. We can say what ours is. I have said it many times, the chairman pays what he can afford and that is commendable.”

Report: Lincoln 0 Gillingham 3