Gillingham’s weekend match-winner Robbie McKenzie was a pre-game injury doubt.

Manager John Coleman revealed after the match that several players needed late fitness checks before being named to play against Morecambe, including the man who scored the only goal in a 1-0 win.

McKenzie struck from the edge of the box to clinch a late win for the Gills.

“He was a doubt all week,” said the Gills boss of the weekend goalscorer.

“Robbie will go through a brick wall. He carried an injury and he’s worked through it, as did Armani Little and Elliott Nevitt.

“Three players who not for one second did I think wouldn't have cleared themselves fit. All three of them ran themselves into the ground.

“That's the type of spirit we want at Gillingham Football Club and the least that fans deserve.

“I don't think the Gillingham fans have had it in the last couple of years. That's no disrespect to the previous managers. That's more that we've got to create a set of players that want to influence each other.

“When a lot of people are working hard, people feel obliged to work as hard with them in a group. That's the herd mentality. We've got to foster that.

“If people aren't pulling their weight, they'll quickly get found out by their peers. That's how you create a winning mentality.

“That's what we've done over the years. Your own players do your job for you. They dig players out before it ever gets to you. That's what we’re trying to create here.”

McKenzie, 26, scored his sixth goal of the season in the weekend win, cheered on by his mate Jarrod Bowen from the Medway Stand. The West Ham and England forward is a former Hull City team-mate of the Gills midfielder.

Another former Hull player Max Clark was praised by boss Coleman after another impressive display, helping the Gills to a third clean-sheet in their last four outings.

Clark managed just 30 minutes of action in Coleman’s first five games in charge but has worked his way into the team and has started the last five.

“He's come in now and he's been a revelation,” said the manager.

“That's why you've got to keep yourself ready for when you are called upon.

“You don't sulk. You stick your chest out every day in training.

“He never let his head go down once. Not once in training. He was a shining light. He's getting his rewards now.”

Coleman is a manager who prefers a settled team, rather than rotating, as has been seen in recent games but he’s mindful of fatigue.

They hit the road again this week with a trip to South Wales when they play Newport County tomorrow (Tuesday) night.

Coleman said: “We've just got to rest the players up now. It's difficult for us. It's more difficult for us than probably any other team, maybe Carlisle, because they're far away as well.

“We have so many long trips and you're trying to get that freshness into the players.

“At this stage of the season, it's ebbing, and we've just got to keep them motivated, keep tickling them, keeping them happy.

“We had a good meeting (last) Wednesday. The lads lost their day off. I felt we needed to do that. It wasn't a punishment, we needed to dissect that (Fleetwood) game and look at the areas that we can improve on, and we definitely did. We definitely improved in that.

“We got a lot more balls into Oli Hawkins' feet than into the air. That's something that we had worked on and we'd showed them.

“It's now a time where you're looking at trying to keep the players as fresh as possible, but still having to commit the time to get ourselves playing the way we know we can play.

“I've always favoured a settled team, because I think once they get to know each other, they know how each other play, they know the nuances of each other.

“That's not to say I won't be shy to change on Tuesday but we've got to be mindful that there's still quite a few games to play and we want to give ourselves every chance we can to win every game we play.

“Every game we play, we will go out to win. We won't be going to Newport to draw that's for sure.

“Players can feel aggrieved that they're not in the starting eleven, or they're not in the squad, but that can quickly change.

“You've got to be ready when it does become your turn, you've got to grab it with both hands.

“I get the feeling that's creeping into the squad at the moment, that players are desperate to get the shirt and are not going to give it back.”

Coleman had defender Conor Masterson back in the squad on Saturday after his recovery from injury.

The likes of Shad Ogie, Dom Corness, Aaron Rowe, Jonny Williams and Jacob Wakeling are all fighting for a spot in the matchday squad.