Dickov's cup is still half full

Doncaster boss Paul Dickov refused to be downbeat despite seeing his play-off chasing side drop two points at in-form Gillingham.

John Marquis scored his seventh goal in 10 games to earn Gillingham a 1-1 draw after substitute Harry Forrester had spectacularly put the visitors ahead six minutes after coming on, albeit with the help of the strong wind that affected the game. The point leaves Doncaster still firmly in the play-off shake-up and Dickov insists picking up a point away from home when his side had been off-colour was a positive. "We've picked up a point playing nowhere near as good we have recently, against a team in form, so we'll take that," said Dickov. "The one thing I want the players to do is express themselves and so I'm disappointed with the quality of our play. "The conditions were difficult, the pitch was bobbly and it was a really scrappy game, but too often, possession wise, we picked the wrong pass or tried to overcomplicate things. "I said to them at half-time to go and play. It didn't look like they were enjoying it. "The players have been great recently. It was a tough game and I was expecting that, but I'm disappointed with how we played because we're better than that. "We want to be tested in terms of the play-offs. We've put ourselves into a great position. "We're still there with 11 games left. A lot of teams will keep picking points up off each other. "If we can't win games, we cannot lose them, and that's what happened. Possibly we would have lost that earlier in the season." Former Brentford forward Forrester struck a 40-yard free-kick, which looped over Gillingham goalkeeper Stuart Nelson's head. On-loan Marquis levelled the tie a minute before the break when he latched on to Doug Loft's free-kick that hung in the wind to head past Doncaster goalkeeper Stephen Bywater. Forrester had the visitors' best chance to score a winner in the 77th minute, but his half-volley was pushed wide by Nelson afterhe had charged through the Gillingham defence. Gillingham boss Justin Edinburgh said: "I think both teams will say a draw was a fair result. "Our performance was gritty and was determined, but we were not very fluent with the ball. "Both teams were trying to play football, but it was a difficult pitch to play on. "There was a strong, swirling wind and that played its part, too. It wasn't a spectacle, but all points are valuable. "You always want to play well in front of a home crowd, but I'm sure the fans will leave knowing the players gave their all." Edinburgh said the wind had clearly contributed to Forrester's opening goal. He addedL "It was a bit of a freak goal, it was very well assisted by the wind; I don't think people who were not here will quite understand how windy it was here. "On any other day, it probably would have just reached the goal. "It was a good response to get back on level terms so quickly. Scoring is becoming a habit for John Marquis, and that's a good one to have. "He's bright; he's on his game at the minute. We needed that, he dispatched it well. I've said that we've got goals from different areas, and it came from a set piece."