Joey Barton says Saturday’s defeat at Gillingham was an ‘off day’ for his team, as they lost 3-0 at Priestfield Stadium.
Goals from Tom Eaves (2) and Brandon Hanlan secured the points for The Gills, despite Paddy Madden and Ched Evans hitting the woodwork in the second half.
Check out the key points from Joey’s post-match press conference…
On the team’s performance…
“You do have days like that [where we can’t score], and hopefully we don’t have too many of them. I challenged the lads at half-time to attempt to win the game, because we felt that if we got that first goal that there was a vulnerability about Gillingham.
“The lads pushed hard in the second half, but we didn’t have that bit of fortune where the ball would hit the post but not go in. We’re really frustrated because it was an off day, but fair play to Gillingham, they took their chances when they presented themselves, and won the game.”
On the second goal scored by Gillingham…
“They have one of the best goalscorers in the league in Tom Eaves. I said to the fourth official before it happened what was going to happen – he brought it down with his arm.
“The officials have to spot that he used his bicep to bring it down. We’ve had the same official before, he was poor on that occasion, but better today yet he still made a massive error. At that point, we’re then chasing the game.
“The focus now switches back to the training ground.”
On the change in shape…
“Bringing him [James Husband] off, was tactical. We felt at half-time that if we got the first goal, there would be a nervousness about them – we need those goals as they change games.
“It’s really frustrating because everything we felt would happen, did happen. On the whole, the players have been good over the course of 16-17 games, but we do have a habit of having an occasional off 20/30/40 minutes, if we’re serious about progressing the football club.”