Gillingham 1 Swindon Town 1: Reaction from Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth after League 2 draw and red cards for Joe Gbode and Jonny Williams

Gillingham finished Saturday’s game with nine men but manager Gareth Ainsworth admitted he liked the fighting spirit within his side.

Joe Gbode and Jonny Williams both picked up second bookings in the game, leaving the Gills down to nine men for the final few seconds of their game against Swindon Town, which finished 1-1.

Report: Gillingham 1 Swindon 1

Those dismissals came too late in the game to have an impact, with referee Neil Hair blowing for full-time shortly after dishing out the red cards.

Commenting afterwards, Ainsworth said: “Joe's a great lad. He wants to win and he wants to stand up for himself.

“I don't know what's gone on but there's a scuffle in the goalmouth and the assistant referee’s called it. Unfortunately, Joe's got second yellow.

“They (Swindon) didn't seem to get punished that badly but it's football and then just before that, Jonny gets sent off on a second yellow. I think he said it's his first red card.

“I don't want red cards, but I like the fight in them. I like that they are standing up for themselves, and they are doing the right things for me.

“I think Jonny's is probably a fair one. It’s a counter-attack. We're going for the win. We're a little bit open at the back. It's the last minutes and we're going: ‘Right, we're going for this’.

“They broke on us, and Jonny took him out. He's on a yellow. Fair play, that happens. It's a professional foul, so Jonny gets the first red in his career. But again, I don't mind that ‘you're not going to score past us’ attitude.

“I didn't know it was nine against eleven at the end. I thought, surely both of them have been sent off. I'm glad it was only ten seconds (remaining)!”

Substitute Gbode had broken the deadlock after the hour mark, with his