Evans lauds character of virus-hit Gills as high-flying Wycombe are toppled



Posted Sunday, September 15, 2019 by PA

Evans lauds character of virus-hit Gills as high-flying Wycombe are toppled

Gillingham boss Steve Evans admitted he was “immensely proud” of his team after they ended Wycombe’s unbeaten league run despite seeing preparations hit by a virus which ripped through the squad in midweek.

Wycombe, who were top of League One heading into the game, had the better of the first half at Priestfield but Alex Samuel missed the target and Nick Freeman had his effort tipped over the bar by Gills goalkeeper Jack Bonham.

And they were made to pay after the break as Bournemouth loanee Mikael Ndjoli grabbed a double – the second from the penalty spot – to consign the Chairboys to a first defeat in nine league games stretching back to April.

After their less-than-ideal build up to the match, Evans was ecstatic to see his side dig deep and credited his squad for the resilience they demonstrated.

“We’ve had a terrible virus kick in midweek so there were four or five players out there who probably shouldn’t have been,” admitted Evans.

“Real, real credit to the players because they battled hard against a good team. The goals were two real pieces of quality from us and I’m immensely proud of the players’ character.

“We have to find a way to win matches and that’s what we did. You need your supporters when it’s 0-0 and all sides of the ground were tremendous.

“We made positive changes during the game, such as bringing on Brandon (Hanlan) and if you’re not league leaders yourself, then it always nice to beat the league leaders.”

Gillingham’s first goal came just before the hour mark as substitute Hanlan went on a solo surge down the left and teed the ball up for Ndjoli to stab home.

Gills continued their dominance after going a goal up and when Giles Phillips fouled Olly Lee in the box after 73 minutes, Ndjoli made no mistake from the penalty spot with a powerful strike.

Ndjoli  is only 20 years old and Evans believes the double will do the striker – on a season-long loan from the Cherries – the world of good.

“Mikael is the best finisher at the football club,” added Evans. “I remember speaking to Eddie Howe, his manager at Bournemouth, about him.

“He has pace and can get in behind so we’re pleased with Mikael.”

Defeat sees Wycombe drop from first place down to third in the League One table and after a promising start to the campaign, boss Gareth Ainsworth is very aware of the danger of complacency.

“The fans are grounded and I hope the players didn’t get too carried away because it’s a reality check,” he said.

“I hope nobody came here thinking ‘we’re top of the table and they’re 16th’, because I’ve told them not to look at the table until at least February.

“There’s absolutely nothing decided at this stage of the season.”

The Chairboys did have the better of the first half but failed to take their chances before succumbing to Ndjoli’s brace.

And while Ainsworth will not be overreacting to one defeat, he was slightly concerned by the way his team wilted as the game wore one.

“We’ve outshot Gillingham – we had plenty of shots but haven’t hit the target,” he added.

“Our keeper has had barely anything to do, he had two shots to save and unfortunately he had no chance with either of them because of poor individual mistakes.

“We’ve got to make sure we don’t make those if we’re going to continue to be a hard team to beat. Goals change games and I thought we could nick it before they scored.

“But the intensity seemed to get kicked out of us and that was not nice to see because my teams always have intensity and desire.”

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