Gillingham 1 AFC Wimbledon 0: Reaction from Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth after the League 2 match at Priestfield

Manager Gareth Ainsworth challenged his Gillingham players to show they could match a promotion-chasing team, and they delivered.

Joe Gbode grabbed the winner for the Gills at Priestfield as they took maximum points against the Dons.

Report: Gillingham 1 AFC Wimbledon 0

Ainsworth said: “I said to the boys, ‘this is one of the top teams in the league and they're going for automatic promotion. Let's see where we are’. They showed me that they're in a pretty good place.

“If you came and watched that game as a neutral, and didn't know where the teams were, you wouldn't be able to pick which team's in the play-offs. There was no dominance.

“They’re a big physical team. They're obviously very good at what they do, and (manager) Johnnie Jackson's done a brilliant job.

“I love AFC Wimbledon. It's the Wimbledon. It's south-west London. That's where it should be. That's brilliant. But, sorry Wimbledon fans, I wanted to win that one because I need to try and build something here.

“There's not much in the league at times and it's those moments of quality that can win and lose games, especially at this level.

“It's a great finish and I'm sure Joe will be pleased but we'll get more goals to Joe.”

Reflecting on the performance overall, Ainsworth was delighted with the character his team showed to get the win.

“Amazing,” he said. “The players were absolutely outstanding for me.

“They emptied every bit of energy they had out there. We were bringing players off who couldn’t walk anymore. They've put that much into the game.

“We had a game plan and once again, I had a 15-minute session to work on it with the players on Sunday. We worked on some shape, which I thought might cause Wimbledon a problem.

“They're very direct, they're very