Saturday 7 February 2015 19:53, UK
Caretaker Steve Lovell admitted the presence of new boss Justin Edinburgh contributed to Gillingham's 2-0 win over Sheffield United.
Gillingham caretaker boss Steve Lovell admitted the presence of new manager Justin Edinburgh in the stands had been a major contributing factor in his team's 2-0 win over Sheffield United. Late goals from Jermaine McGlashan and Cody McDonald gave Gillingham a deserved three points and condemned the Blades to a fifth away league game without a win. And Lovell insists the performance of Gills, who confirmed the appointment of former Newport boss Edinburgh before kick-off, had more than merited the result. He said: "It was a good result in the end 2-0, two late goals and I thought the boys deserved it overall. "In the first half there were quite a few things that we weren't happy with, we addressed them at half time and the boys adhered to them in the second half. We passed the ball a lot better and thoroughly deserved the three points. "I think the new manager being present in the stands will have made a difference to our performance and provided a boost for the players and staff. It is great to have a new manager in and we are all looking forward to working with him and that includes us coaches as well as the players. "It was important that we had a successful spell in charge in order to give the chairman time to get the right man in and I really believe that we have. "The fact that we have been winning games has given the chairmen that little bit more time to make a measured decision and in the end we have got Justin and we are really pleased with him." Gillingham took the lead with just four minutes remaining when Max Ehmer's long ball was latched onto by substitute McGlashan who coolly slotted the ball under the on-rushing keeper to steal all three points. But there was still time for Cody McDonald to make it two as he smashed in on the counter-attack following McGlashan's lay-off. Sheffield United manager Nigel Clough said: "I thought we played all right first half and I couldn't really see them scoring. "I thought that the game had 0-0 written all over it for 86 minutes but then Mark Howard has had a rush of blood. It was a poor kick to start with and then he has another one come charging out and we have lost the game. "We didn't create too much but they didn't either. It was a difficult surface today and I thought that both teams cancelled each other out. "We got into some very good situations and got nothing from them again and then it is a poor pass to lay somebody in. "It was that sort of day. Jamie Murphy got into some great situations and got nothing from it. It was one of those days where you take your 0-0 and go home or you nick one in the last minute, you certainly don't give a goal away like we did. "Our final ball was nowhere near with the quality that we have on the pitch. I thought everyone fell into that category today where the final pass or shot wasn't good enough. "We should have gone and won the game in the first half, I thought we played well enough at times. We got the ball down and created enough to go and get a goal or two but we are just lacking that belief at the moment. "
