Cotterill upbeat despite draw

Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill insisted that he was proud of his players despite a goalless draw with Gillingham at Ashton Gate.

The runaway leaders were denied victory by a resolute Gillingham side, who defended for their lives when under constant second-half pressure. But Cotterill had nothing but praise for his team, who hammered away at the visiting defence only to be thwarted by some great last-ditch blocks and a couple of fine saves by Gills goalkeeper Stuart Nelson. Cotterill said: "The energy level of my players is unbelievable considering the number of games they have played. "We battered Gillingham in the second half and I can't believe we haven't won the game. "You have to give them credit for the way they defended, but the ball just wouldn't drop right for us. "I have said many times this season that we have something special at our club this season. "Sometimes you don't know what to think after a home draw, but this time I feel nothing but pride. "The lads never stopped trying to win the game, whereas Gillingham's aim was to avoid defeat. "I don't blame them for that and I am sure they are delighted with their efforts. "We got some great balls into their box and just couldn't apply the finishing touch. In all other ways it was a good performance." A superb goal-saving block by centre-back John Egan to deny City substitute Jay Emmanuel-Thomas as injury-time approached typified the visitors' commitment. City's few clear chances came in the second half when Aaron Wilbraham glanced a header just wide, while Luke Ayling and Luke Freeman both fired over from good opportunities. A low-key first half saw the best chance fall to Gillingham's Bradley Dack as early as the fourth minute when he shot wide at the far post from Joe Martin's corner. Joe Bryan offered the main threat for City, but could not summon up the end product to match some promising approach play. Bryan's 33rd-minute shot from a narrow angle was smothered by Gillingham goalkeeper Stuart Nelson. It was the fifth time the clubs had met this season and Gillingham came up with an effective game-plan to nullify their high-flying opponents. Manager Justin Edinburgh said: "It was a terrific team effort. We came here believing we could get something and every player contributed. "I believe we were playing the champions-elect. Bristol City are not where they are by accident and they made life very difficult for us in the second half. "But we kept getting bodies in the way and actually had a few opportunities to hit them on the counter-attack. "I am really enjoying working with this group of players and a display like this shows what we are about. "It required a lot of effort from every individual, but whatever the game took out of them will have been restored by the performance and result."