Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler remained upbeat despite the defeat against Brighton on Tuesday night.

The Gills lost by a single goal to the Championship side and Hessenthaler (pictured) had few complaints about his side’s efforts.

“I thought we played well,” he said. “We are a second division side and were going up against a Championship side. Up until the penalty incident we were starting to get on top.

“They had the better of the first half and they are a good side, the way they move, it’s very hard to play against, but we knew that. They are clever at it and it’s really hard for our boys. What we did was to work hard and try and frustrate them at times and we did that.

“In the second half I thought we were getting on top and we had a few chances.”

The game was eventually decided on a contentious penalty decision after Andy Frampton was adjudged by referee Brendan Malone to have fouled Will Buckley in the box.

Hessenthaler said: “I was disappointed in the penalty decision and I think it was a foul on Spiller leading up to the decision. The referee said he didn’t see that and Frampton said he hasn’t touched him (Buckley).

“The referee has to make a split-second decision, so let’s hope he has got it right. It would be disappointing if he has got it wrong because we have gone out of the cup on that decision.”

The game threatened to boil over in the latter stages and the Gills picked up seven bookings, which will leave them in trouble with the Football Association.

And Hessenthaler admitted young striker Stefan Payne was lucky to stay on the field after a rash challenge on Romain Vincelot.

“I think we lost our discipline a bit and I am disappointed about that in the boys,” said the Gills boss. “Stefan Payne’s challenge was a straight red and I went straight up to Gus Poyet (Brighton manager) when it happened to apologise.”

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