We Battled And Deserved It

Nigel Reo-Coker has said he was impressed with the team’s maturity against Gillingham and that for the younger lads it would have been a great education.

Speaking on the official site today after our nail biting encounter with Gillingham, Hokey said:

‘I was impressed with the team – the lads showed their maturity.

‘That was a man’s game – and we played like men. We had to battle throughout and we did well.

‘It was a good, old-fashioned, traditional cup-tie. That was what the magic of the competition is all about and we enjoyed every moment of it.

‘We knew what to expect – we thought it was going to be a really difficult tie – and that’s exactly what we got.

‘Gillingham came out and sustained their drive and determination for 90 minutes and worked incredibly hard – and thankfully we matched them.

‘I think the younger lads will have got a lot out of the game. It will have been good for their football education. You need to play at different grounds and against teams from different divisions – it’s essential for your development.

‘You can’t always play great, free-flowing football. It will have been a great experience.’

There’s definitely a steel to the squad now, if we had done a ‘UEFA’ and played the fringe players again there’s no doubt in my mind Gillingham would’ve dumped us out the Cup so having to really dig in would’ve done the first team’s confidence a world of good.

Moreover, it’s exactly the same type of game we expect Cheltenham or Doncaster to play so hopefully plenty would’ve been learnt by the team and we can make the 4th Round a little easier for the fans.