Reaction from Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth after goalless draw against Newport County at Priestfield

Manager Gareth Ainsworth believes Gillingham must learn to deal with teams who come to Priestfield determined to shut them out.

The Gills were held to a goalless draw by Newport County on Saturday, ending a run of two successive home wins in which they had scored five goals.

Newport changed from their usual back four to a five-man defence and spent long periods sitting deep, denying Gillingham the space they had exploited in recent weeks.

Ainsworth admitted it made life difficult for his side but said the visitors' approach should be taken as a compliment.

He said: “They came to defend without a shadow of a doubt. They came to soak it up, and they've soaked it up really well, and you have to say to [their manager] Hayden Mullins, ‘Well done. You've got that spot on.’

“They beat Grimsby last week at home and they were a four at the back. They've obviously come here and gone, ‘We're going to five at the back. We're shutting you out. We're not going to let you have anything’.

“They've changed their style. They've gone five at the back and denied all the space in behind and sat in their half. It's tough to break a team down like that.

“What we have to do is take a massive compliment saying, look, teams are going to do that. I think the team that Hayden's set up, I think it's better than last year. They're really solid and organised and big lads. That's going to be their theme, basing it on that. We almost broke them down a couple of times.

“Teams are going to do that [at Priestfield] and it's about us then trying to make it work and trying to get that goal.

“It's a real compliment. I'm happy to take those compliments. But I want to sometimes be better in that final third. It's the hardest part of the game, but we'll get