Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth praises his “special” group of players after 1-1 draw at Tranmere Rovers in League Two

Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth claimed he's got a "special" group of players following their draw at Tranmere on Saturday.

A stoppage-time effort credited to Joe Gbode trickled over the line to preserve Gillingham's unbeaten start to the League Two campaign.

It was a performance full of grit and determination against a much-fancied Tranmere side, who stuffed Shrewsbury 4-0 just seven days earlier.

"I'm just proud of my boys getting the goal to come back into the game like they did," said Ainsworth.

"It's something special, this group, it really is.

"I'm hoping that people are seeing commitment like they haven't seen for a while.

"You know, when we're getting people carried off like that (Ethan Coleman) and when we're going into tackles like we are and the group are together and I've got them.

"I've got them. I'll catch them. I'll catch this group. I'll tell you, however far they fall, I'm there for them, definitely. But today, they deserve all the credit. They never gave up."

It wasn't a fluent Gills performance but Ainsworth was conscious of the threats Tranmere posed and his gameplan worked perfectly.

They nullified the home side to a couple of serious attempts at goal. It meant Gills lacked an attacking threat at one end but the manager made no apologies.

"I set them up in a way where I wanted to be solid and probably stifled a little bit of football. And I put my hands up for that. We played some great stuff.

"But today wasn't a free-flowing game. It never was going to be. But that's the way to get a point away at Tranmere and I'm proud of that."

A draw was the least that Gillingham deserved for their efforts, according to Ainsworth.

They more than held their own against Tranmere and did well to restrict their