by Luke Cawdell

Andy Hessenthaler was a proud man after seeing his Gillingham team battle for all three points against Plymouth on Saturday.

The Gills had to play for an hour with 10 men after goalscorer Joe Martin was sent off.

Hessenthaler felt the win was even better give the fact that he was forced to make five changes to his starting eleven, due to injuries and illness, and lost two more players to injury before the break.

“Testament to them all, they were first class,” said the Gills boss, who saw his side win for the third time in a row.

“We had to make five changes, which were forced upon us, and I thought maybe we would have to make six. Jo Kuffour wasn’t fully fit, but we put him out there.

“When we went down to 10 men it showed you the character of people we have at this football club. I was proud of them.

“Against Torquay, when we won 2-0 at home and were under pressure, we put in a top, top performance but I think this performance has gone above that.”

Gavin Tomlin went off with a hamstring injury and Simon King picked up a thigh strain (pictured above).

Connor Essam pulled out just before the game with illness.

Joe Martin scored the winning goal on 13 minutes, but was sent off for a second booking after 31 minutes.

“He has a great strike on him, a hell of a strike,” said Hessenthaler.

“But unfortunately he got sent off. The first one, yes possibly a yellow card, but the second one I am not so sure.

"I can’t really comment too much as I haven’t seen the DVD.

“They put us under massive pressure late on and even (defender) Darren Purse went up there to add a bit of strength and it was another option along with the big lad they brought on.

“We had young players out there and they dealt with it. It was siege mentality and the togetherness was tremendous.

"I am proud of them, very proud of them.”

Do you agree with Hess' thoughts? Where does this rank among the Gills' results this season?

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