‘How we’ve not won is beyond me’, says Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor

Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor could not fathom how his side failed to win, even though they needed a stoppage-time equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw at Gillingham.

Seb Palmer-Houlden fired the hosts in front before Shaun Rooney’s last-gasp leveller at Priestfield Stadium.

Lawlor said: “How we’ve not won that game is beyond me, if I’m honest. We were dominant with the ball and I thought we were brilliant without it as well.

“They had one moment where they get in behind and score, but I can’t really remember them having many chances beyond that. We should be two up at half-time and we’ve hit the post and the bar as well.

“I was really pleased with the performance again, it’s just the result that’s a little bit frustrating.

“It’s six unbeaten now. When you consider the circumstances we found ourselves in with 15 minutes to go, 1–0 down, we’ll take the point and move on.

“The character was tested today. We talk about the non-negotiables at this club, high energy, character and desire, and the lads showed that again.

“We created a lot of chances and probably should have been out of sight. Some of the football was a joy to watch.

“In the second half they changed a few things which opened up the game a little bit, but even then we still had the best opportunities.”

Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth praised his side for coming away with a point despite their injury problems.

The likes of Bradley Dack, Omar Beckles, Gareth McCleary, Armani Little and Conor Masterson were all missing.

“I’m proud of the boys,” said Ainsworth. “We’re missing some big players through injury at the moment.

“We came back from Barrow four players down – leaders, experienced players who have been there and done it.

“Everyone’s down saying we’ve lost points in the last minute, but fair enough what what we’re going through.

“I looked at the players on the sidelines earlier watching and thought, ‘We’ve got a decent team here’.

“Having said that, the boys have stood up to a challenge with not many leaders on the pitch, quite young at times.

“We rode our luck first half, but we limited them second half.

“It’s something that I’m proud of. I’m not going to sit here complaining.

“There’s a lot to do, I know that. We could have played more at times, but fair play to the boys, they gave me everything.

“If anyone wants to have a go at my boys they’ll have to come through me first because I’ll protect those boys. They were down at the end, they were gutted.

“But I told them not to worry because we’ll get there, I know we will.”