Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth gives players green light to shoot on sight in bid to improve goals-per-game stats

Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth has urged his players to adopt a shoot on sight policy.

The Gills have struggled for goals in recent seasons and have only scored more than once in two games since Ainsworth took charge.

It’s a record he’s keen to put right and part of that plan is to encourage players to take shots at goal, as evident against Crewe when the hosts had 17 attempts.

“I was well aware when I came here that fans, staff, players, everyone told me that Gillingham do not score enough goals,” said Ainsworth.

“It’s been a theme for years. I said to people, check my YouTube reel out, I’d shoot from anywhere, and luckily some of them went in.

“But I encourage the boys to take strikes. Elliott Nevitt had one, Aaron Rowe had one second half, we will take strikes. Bradley Dack had a great volley cleared off the line.

“Ironically, the one we got was from a metre out, which is brilliant for Sam Gale to put in.

“But they will believe and they will put crosses in now and shots. That's something that I’m probably different to a few other managers, but we’ll play the way I want Gillingham to play and so far, so good.”

That policy has led to three late goals in the last three games. Gale scored in the 89th minute to defeat Crewe, Sam Gbode netted a stoppage-time leveller at Tranmere and Marcus Wyllie scored the fourth against Chesterfield in the last minute.

Ainsworth admitted there’s more to that statistic than just luck.

“There’s a lot [to it], but there's a momentum change and there’s a belief in the boys,” responded the Gills boss.

“I probably disguise all those things with the word luck, but we’re lucky to have Sam in the right place there [on Saturday].

“I think there was a little bit of guile about that goal. It wasn’t