Gillingham 1 Fleetwood 1: Reaction from Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth after League 2 match at Priestfield Stadium – Seb Palmer-Houlden’s goal cancelled out by Shaun Rooney

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth praised his depleted squad after a late Fleetwood equaliser denied his team victory at Priestfield.

The Gills boss highlighted the players that were missing from his team as they took on Fleetwood in Saturday’s mid-table League 2 clash.

Report: Gillingham 1 Fleetwood 1

Injuries to the likes of Bradley Dack, Omar Beckles, Armani Little and Cameron Antwi led to recalls to the squad for Shad Ogie and Jonny Williams after months out on the sidelines.

Seb Palmer-Houlden’s goal looked like it could have won it for Gillingham but Fleetwood came on strong at the end and nicked a late equaliser.

“I'm proud of the boys,” said the Gills boss.

“We're missing some big players through injury at the moment. We came back from Barrow [last week] with four leaders down, experienced players who've been there and done it.

“Everyone's a little bit down, and everyone's like, ‘Oh, we lost the points in the last minute’. Fair enough, but wow, we're missing Dack, [Garath] McCleary's still out, Cameron [Antwi], Beckles, [Conor] Masterson, Little.

“There's a lot of big names on the touchline there. I went in the dressing room before the game and thought, ‘Wow, this is a decent team in here, never mind what's going out there [to play]’.

“Having said that, well done boys. You stood up to a challenge with not many leaders on the pitch, quite young at times.”

The Gills didn’t manage to create many openings with just six shots and three of those on target. Fleetwood had 14 shots, had more of the ball and were deserving of a point.

“I thought first-half we rode our luck,” admitted the Gills boss.

“I'll take some blame because I wanted to turn Fleetwood and put them on the back foot, but we did it in every single