Wrexham 2 Gillingham 0: Match highlights and reaction from head coach Stephen Clemence after League 2 defeat at the Racecourse Ground

Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence was pleased his side stayed in the game after conceding early at Wrexham.

Less than a minute was on the clock when the Wrexham front-two overpowered the Gills defence, combining for an opening goal. Clemence’s men gradually worked their way into the match but couldn’t make the most of their minimal chances and the Welsh side wrapped up the points in the second half.

Report: Wrexham 2-0 Gillingham

Clemence said: “They are very physical, very hard to play against, they get the ball in your box and that is where we got undone, two crosses that we haven’t dealt with and we lose two goals, but there were encouraging signs for me in the first half.

“I know our end product still has to improve but we did have a couple of good chances and a possible penalty appeal as well, and when you come to somewhere like Wrexham, a team that are top of the table you need a little bit of a luck and something like that to go for you.

“Sometimes you start games well and sometimes you don’t but they showed great strength of character. They could have gone under there (after conceding early). The crowd were up and it could have been a difficult afternoon.

“I have been in that situation as a player and a coach and now as head coach where when you go behind away from home against a team that is at the top of the table you think ‘this could get a little bit messy’ but the lads showed great character.

“They hung on in there and they grew into the game, I couldn’t fault their efforts we just need to work on their quality a bit.

“We had a couple of moments towards the end of the first half where we probably had to take one of those but I felt quite positive at half-time but second half we didn’t play as well as