Mark Bonner hails Gillingham response in victory over Salford

Manager Mark Bonner was delighted with the reaction from his Gillingham side as they beat Salford 1-0.

The Gills bounced back from successive defeats thanks to top scorer Jayden Clarke’s sixth goal of the season on a blustery afternoon at Priestfield.

Bonner is desperate for his side to use this victory as a catalyst to push up the table.

“We needed some reaction from Wednesday [losing at Bromley], which we got,” praised Bonner.

“I really liked the commitment of the team and when you have got 26 games left, or whatever it is, you just look at that and say that is the minimum level you expect to see.

“The players know that and it is a good reminder to them, and to us, and to everybody else.

“We come out of the game with a really important result against a team that are going very well.

“We’re very up and down and having some horrible moments and under the cosh a little bit but we take three points from a really committed performance.

“We’ve taken two wins from four while we’re trying to work through the period we’re in.

“Sometimes that will be ugly wins or getting points out of games you don’t win. It’s about stacking some results together.

“It was hard to be full flowing because the conditions were difficult, we knew they would be.

“We tried to be a stubborn team. The way we played today wasn’t especially entertaining or all guns blazing but we had a plan.”

Salford slipped to only their second defeat in eight league games.

Boss Karl Robinson said: “Maybe sometimes you need these moments.

“My teams score goals. We haven’t scored more than two goals in a game all season, that’s not my teams!

“We know what we need, it’s obvious. It’s not the goalkeeper, defenders or midfielders.

“When you come away from games people have different opinions but I don’t think they will coming away from this one. No one will question what I’m saying.

“But the only thing that ever matters is the result. If we can keep playing like that and be more ruthless in the final third and take our chances then we’ll be where we want to be.

“Large parts of our game were very good. We were by far the better team. But credit to them.

“Our effort was certainly there. I am left just a little bit baffled by how we have not won here, never mind a draw.

“Be ruthless. Away from home we have been brilliant all season, that’s our second defeat on the road and it was probably one of our better performances.

“We have lost this today not by playing badly but by not taking the right decisions in the final third and that will be something that will eat away at me.”