Saunders berates performance in Gillingham defeat

Crawley suffered a 2-1 reverse to Gillingham which ended a run of three straight wins and saw them drop back into the League One relegation places.

Jermaine McGlashan’s 78th-minute header gave the visitors the win after Izale McLeod had levelled up Bradley Dack’s first-half goal after the break.

Saunders said: “Football has got a habit of slapping you in the face. We have just come off the back of winning three games, playing really well and we put in a performance like that.

“I am really disappointed. There was so much at stake today and we were just flat from the start - first half especially.

“We got better in the second half, scored a good goal and looked like we were going to go on and win, but we conceded a goal from a quick free-kick and a throw-in again.

“I spend 75 per cent of my time telling the players not to switch off and they scored from a simple throw-in and a one-two.

“We hit the post with five minutes to go which would have got us a 2-2 draw which would have been acceptable to us the way we played.

“There are no excuses today, we were miles off it. (There were) too many people giving the ball away and maybe we have started believing our own publicity of believing we are better than we are.

“We have got to get back to what we were doing. Friday comes around quick and we have got to get to Crewe and make sure we turn up.”