Hessenthaler: 'There's something missing from our play at the moment'
Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler was content with a point following a 1-1 home draw with Accrington Stanley, but admits his side are faltering.
With just six minutes remaining in Saturday's League Two clash at Priestfield, substitute Ian Craney put the visitors on course for their first away win of the season. But Gillingham equalised just moments later through Luke Rooney's spot-kick after Lewis Moult was adjudged to have fouled Danny Kedwell in the box.
Hess told the PA: "A point was a fair result. I don't think we deserved to lose even though we conceded late on. I can't fault their effort, but there's something missing from our play at the moment. There's no excuses, we're not firing like we should be firing, but we can't hide behind anything. There's a bit of quality missing in the final third. I thought we defended fine, but neither keeper has been tested. We need to improve and quickly, and if we find what's missing we'll get back to where we should be."
And he made it clear that performances had to improve, especially with the visit to Southend only a day away.
Hess continued: "We're not pleased, but it's not a matter of life or death. We've got a good squad of players but they are not firing. We got off to a good start in the first month, but now we've got to go and win our next three games. There's no reason why we can't do that."
Well no there isn't!
So see you at Roots Hall on Tuesday evening, where there is just one point between the sides, and hopefully that sequence of wins will not start for another 90 minutes!
The S24 Preview: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
The Hessenthaler Files
 |
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Hessenthaler | ||
| Date of birth | 17 August 1965 | ||
| Place of birth | Dartford, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder (retired) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dartford | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| ?–1983 | Corinthian | ||
| 1983–1984 | Charlton Athletic | 0 | (0) |
| 1984–1986 | Corinthian | ||
| 1986–1990 | Dartford | ||
| 1990–1991 | Redbridge Forest | ||
| 1991–1996 | Watford | 195 | (11) |
| 1996–2006 | Gillingham | 303 | (20) |
| 2005 | → Hull City (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Barnet | 40 | (2) |
| 2007–2010 | Dover Athletic | 36 | (4) |
| National team | |||
| 1990 | England National Game XI | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2000–2004 | Gillingham | ||
| 2007–2010 | Dover Athletic | ||
| 2010– | Gillingham | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:19, 21 May 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
(Manager info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Hessenthaler)