Gillingham manager Steve Evans hails impact of on-loan Wolves winger Jordan Graham in victory at Southend United
07:32, 19 February 2020
updated: 09:41, 19 February 2020
Manager Steve Evans reckons on-loan Gillingham winger Jordan Graham can cause any defence in League 1 - or the Championship - problems on his day.
Graham, a January deadline-day signing from Wolves, came on at half-time in the Gills’ 1-0 victory at relegation-threatened Southend on Tuesday and set up left-back Connor Ogilvie’s winner.
Evans said: “If you want to know about Jordan Graham, you can tell (from the fact) he played in a good Wolves team how good and exciting the kid was.
“If you give him good possession in the final third, any full-back at Championship or League 1 level has a real problem in dealing with him.
“It’s a fantastic cross for the goal but his first introduction to the play saw him go past the full-back and put a wonderful cross in.
“It got deflected for a corner but we should score.
“Then, he slipped a couple of times and his decision-making wasn’t quite there but that’s what happens when you get introduced as a wide player with frightening pace and a very attacking instinct and he has to graft in a 4-4-2 shape for the team.
“But he made the goal, we score the goal and we win the game."
Evans admitted he was not happy with his team’s first-half display at Roots Hall, although said wins are all that matter at this stage in the season for ninth-placed Gillingham.
“I thought we looked poor in the first half, we looked disjointed,” he admitted.
“We looked, if I’m being completely honest, maybe a little bit disrespectful towards Southend because of where there they are in League 1.
“But I watched enough footage on Sunday to realise that these kids Sol (Campbell, Southend’s boss) has got can play a little bit.
“So we went in at half-time and had to make a change.
“In the first five or 10 minutes of the second half, there wasn’t much improvement, really, and we had a few harsh words (with the players) when there was a little break.
“But I think, from there on in, we dominated proceedings apart from the odd counter-attack.
“We scored a good goal, missed a couple of half-chances to kill the game which we didn't take them and they missed a chance which was always going to happen (as substitute Matt Rush fired wide late on).
“It was poor play from us defensively a little bit when we switched off.
“But at this stage of the season, it’s a game we were looking to win and we did win it.”
