Karl Robinson full of praise for Matt Young after Salford win at Gillingham

Manager Karl Robinson praised goalkeeper Matt Young for his penalty save as Salford held on for a 2-1 win at Gillingham.

The 18-year-old, on loan from Sunderland, has now saved four penalties from the seven he has faced at the Ammies.

First-half goals from Dan Udoh and Kallum Cesay put the visitors in control before Josh Andrews pulled one back.

Bradley Dack missed from the spot to level at 1-1 and Robinson said: “Four penalty saves for Young out of seven. It’s a great penalty save.

“Not just the penalty save but he made two great saves in the second half as well which is typical Youngy.

“I’ve just been told they had only conceded three here all season and we’ve managed to score two.

“We probably could have scored a few more. We maybe could have put our foot down.

“I’m so proud of what they did to see the game out. The desire and application was brilliant.

“But there’s a frustration as well because of the flippancy.

“You’re coming away to one of the favourites to win the league and win 2-1..that’s a fantastic testament to our players.

“We soldier on. We have a break from the league so for a while now we’ll look at that league table and it looks healthy.”

The Gills are in a rut after being the early pace-setters in League Two.

They have picked up just one point from a possible 15 and assistant Richard Dobson admitted: “We gave ourselves a bit too much to do.

“We’ve created plenty of chances again. The missed penalty is a big chance missed.

“They’ve had two chances and scored both of them and we’ve had seven and scored one, that’s the story for us.

“Their keeper’s made a couple of great saves. They’ve cleared one off the line. We’ve huffed and puffed.

“We need to be more clinical when we get our chances. It’s not like we’re hoping for a 25-yarder. We’ve seen the whites of the keeper’s eyes. We just haven’t put it in the back of the net.

“When you miss a penalty, it so often happens they score and that’s what happened. If we score that penalty it’s a different game.

“There are fine margins in this division. You see Bradley in training and he never misses them. He’s an excellent technician. It just wasn’t our day at the end.

“It’s a strange one. October’s not been good for the club in recent years. It’s different personnel, different management staff. But it seems to always happen to us.”