6 days Ago By [email protected] (Luke Cawdell)
Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth has big expectations of striker Elliott Nevitt. Nevitt’s had plenty of game-time this season but hasn’t got anywhere near the tally of goals he managed when he helped take Crewe to the League 2 play-offs last season. Eighteen goals for the Alex convinced the Gills that he was the man they needed for their own promotion push this season, but not a lot’s gone to plan at Priestfield this term.
Ainsworth’s taken over as manager to try and make the dream a reality, with a fresh assault on the league next season, and he’s confident he can get the best out of Nevitt, who scored after just 90 seconds on Saturday. The Gills boss said: “We've got to feel for all the players, not just Elliott, because it’s been three managers in a season, three different ways of playing. “It's a lot of change and these players need consistency.
I'm a big believer in a consistent environment. They know what they're getting, they can work on stuff. He's probably had to work on three different styles of play.
It’s been tough for him. “I'm expecting Elliott to be prolific, like he always is at other clubs, and that'll take time. But when he hits it, he'll hit it well.
“He's a good lad. A great work rate and ethic. You could see him squaring up to a few of their players (at Salford) and getting involved.
He's a winner and I want winners in my team.” Nevitt’s deflected finish on Saturday was his fourth goal this season in 32 appearances. Ainsworth said: “We talked about (goalscoring) in the morning (before the game) a little bit, just over breakfast.
I said to Elliott, ‘get some goals into your game, because I know you can do it’. “It was a great bit of individual skill (for the goal) and it was going in the far corner, took a deflection, and went in the near corner. It’s just deserts for him.
He works really hard.” Ainsworth will be looking forward to a pre-season to help the likes of Nevitt with more time on the training ground. They’ve had little time for much of that since he took the job.
He said: “I've actually done two (full training) sessions in nine days with this group. “It's not easy because of the game schedule, so no excuses, but once I get my way and my sessions in, week in, week out with them, when we get a pre-season and all that sort of stuff, we'll be a different animal. “Football is a commitment.
It's a lifestyle. Just getting on the training pitch is important for me and Richard (Dobson, the assistant) because we pride ourselves on messages and consistent training sessions that we'll then see on the pitch. “We just haven't been able to do it yet but the lads have shown me plenty so far and I'm proud of every single one of them.
“At the moment, it's ‘pick up as many points as we can until the end of the season’ and players ‘show me what you've got’, because I'm here for the long journey and I'm looking forward to it.”.
