Manager Steve Lovell has been highly critical of his Gillingham players following their 1-0 loss at home to AFC Wimbledon at the weekend.

In a game at the Medway Priestfield, the home side rarely troubled the opposition goal and scoring looked even less likely.

The match was low on quality and won’t live long in the memory, with Lovell prepared to slam his own side for a sub par performance:

“Terrible, absolutely shocking. I thought the back four kept us together but the rest of them need to have a look at themselves.”

“It was a shambles and that is the most embarrassed I have been. That was not a Steve Lovell football team out there and that is what I am mad about.”

“It starts upfront for us. Look at the difference between their centre-forwards and our centre-forwards. Ours didn’t hold the ball up. Tom Eaves and Conor Wilkinson didn’t hold the ball up, their centre-forwards did and when they do that you have got a chance of your midfielders going into support.”

“What chance have our midfield players got if our centre forwards aren’t going to hold the ball up?”

“You could have put anyone out there,” Lovell added.

“That wasn’t my team out there, it didn’t belong to me, that is the disappointing thing. It’s the same people in midfield, we just didn’t have a midfield and we didn’t have a front two, it just came back off them. What’s the point of having two forwards out there if it going to come back off them?”

“I told them that, I don’t care if they don’t like it, I am telling the truth. Tom Eaves is the top scorer at the club, I don’t care, if he isn’t going to do what I want him to do and he can’t do it then he won’t play, I will put someone else in there that will do it. Josh Parker is coming back (currently on international duty), so Tom has to have a look at himself.”

“The midfield never looked for the ball from our full-backs, if our full-backs get the ball and can see our midfield are wanting to get it then there is an option for them, if all you can see is them running away the only option is to hit the front men. When it doesn’t stick and it comes back then the midfield are out of the game. That is what happened.”

“Midfield players have got to go looking for the ball, even if they don’t get it, they drag someone out, then it leaves space to go into the front men, but we didn’t do that and we didn’t hold the ball up either. It was poor.”

“Elliott List, he came on and didn’t have a run. What’s going on? A 19-year-old player coming on in League One and not wanting to run. It is not on. People could see it. I am honest and I have to be honest with the supporters, I am with them, it was rubbish, absolutely rubbish.”

Lovell now has the remainder of the week to prepare for Saturday’s League One trip to Rochdale, but may be tempted to play some of those under-performing players in the Kent Senior Cup tie at Welling United on Tuesday night.

With just seven points from their opening seven league games this season, Lovell may be tempted to look for a morale boosting win ahead of Saturday.

Only one point from a possible 15 makes for poor reading and Lovell will be hoping something ignites Gillingham’s season if they are to live up to the expectations of fans and owner alike.