Elliott Nevitt scored the equaliser for Gillingham on Saturday against Cheltenham Town and hopes it’s the first goal of many

Gillingham striker Elliott Nevitt scored his first goal of the season on Saturday and admits he’s hungry to repay the faith shown by the management.

Nevitt had gone 12 games without a goal this season - starting all 11 league matches before the weekend - but after being dropped to the bench, he responded in the best way possible, coming on against Cheltenham and scoring an equaliser with just seconds remaining.

Assistant manager Richard Dobson had spoken to the striker after they’d opted to put him on the bench at the weekend.

“I felt like I needed to start chipping in,” said the 28-year-old former Crewe and Tranmere striker.

“It feels like I need to start scoring goals.

“[The assistant manager] did pull me and spoke to me. I understand when he pulls me and when he says I'm not starting, and he's going to go with this. I understood the decision.

“I took [the decision] really well. They've believed in me. I've started every game this season, and he just wanted me to refocus and wanted to go with Seb (Palmer-Houlden) and Sam (Vokes) for the first half.

“The Gaffer and Dobbo have trusted me and played me the majority of the games, and I feel like I want to reward them and reward everyone for believing.

“I am happy I got the goal. I feel like everyone's rooting for me to get the goal. They know how hard I work for the team and that I do anything for the team.

“We've been winning and that's the main thing, so it wasn't really on my mind until the last two games (when the Gills had lost).”

Nevitt scored 18 goals for Crewe in the 2023/24 season, but the goals have been harder to come by at Gillingham, with five last season and now his first for the current campaign on Saturday.

His goal at the weekend rescued a point for the