Manager Gareth Ainsworth felt it would have been a travesty had Gillingham not got any reward from Tuesday’s performance against Colchester United.

The Gills dominated, had 60% possession and 20 shots on goal, but needed a penalty from Max Clark to claim a point in a 1-1 comeback draw.

Report: Gillingham 1 Colchester 1

“How has it finished 1-1?!” said Ainsworth. “I thought the boys were fantastic, and I thought the fans were fantastic.

“To put in place, this early, what I've asked them to do, a little bit of organisation, a little bit of a structure and a little bit of identity, which we want to get to. We want to get to this place.

“They've took their messages on really well. I thought every single one of them was superb.

“It's really early days, so I'm not going to say we've solved anything at all, but it gives me so much belief and hope that this team can achieve at some stage.

“It needs building, we need building, but I see the start of some good moves, and if we can just put the finishing touch on things, I think we could have blown them away.

“Let's not get carried away. We're 19th in the table, so there's a reason for that as well. But it's a great performance. It's the first game at home.

“I think the fans can see now what I'm trying to bring, and hopefully they're going away going thinking we deserve more than that.

“The messages I got to the boys before. I trained five lads who weren’t in the squad at three o'clock, and they trained superbly well. That sets a platform for the squad who's coming in at half four to go, well, we've got to lift our levels as well. It's the whole group here that has contributed to this performance.

“It's just the whole squad at the moment is buying in. They're listening to me. They've been crying out for, let's say, some structure and some shape on the pitch and some way of playing but a lot of it is them as well, you know, good players.”

The Gills conceded a controversial goal as the ball looked to have gone out of play before being converted as Sam Gale attempted to shield the ball out of play.

Ainsworth said: “There will be still photos going around online, I'm sure, with a definite gap between the ball and the line. Referees get a tough job.

“I think the linesman has got the goal obscuring him as well from the other side.

“It's really tough for him to see. I think Galey, who's a cracking lad, great player, great learning for him. I'd rather have it at the end of a season where we've not done great than a crucial moment somewhere else in the future.

“He's learning. He's a fantastic guy as well, real quick. We swapped sides with him and Smithy because I thought it would be better for him to handle what was their threat. Galey handled him and he went off after 20 minutes. That was great.

“It was a controversial moment and I don't think I'll ever get to the bottom of whether it was out or in.

“All I care about is we got back into the game and we got something out of this game because if we hadn't, that would have been a travesty.”