Head coach Stephen Clemence was delighted to see Gillingham give the fans some goals to cheer.

Clemence has been working on ways to get the Gills firing and they scored three at home for the first time in over two and a half years on Saturday.

The Gills beat Ipswich 3-1 at Priestfield in March 2021 in an empty stadium due to Covid. It’s been almost four years since the supporters got to see the Gills score more than two at home in a league game - with the same scoreline against MK Dons in December 2019.

Gillingham beat Salford City 3-1 on Saturday with goals from Connor Mahoney, Tom Nichols and Dom Jefferies.

Clemence, speaking after his first home league game, said: “I knew when I came into the job they had only scored two goals on two occasions in the league (this season) and it is something I flagged up.

“I told the boys when I first got to see them that you are not going to win every game 1-0, we have to start scoring more goals, I tried to put that demand on them and I am really pleased we got three. Really well done to them.

“They have taken everything me and Robbie have given to them the last couple of weeks, I have seen some of the patterns we have worked on coming out and thankfully they have worked and they have managed to get a few goals, so well done to them.

“People are realistic, we are the lowest scorers in the division, you don’t get promoted by being the lowest scorers in the division, we have got to improve in a lot of areas, that is collectively, not just centre-forwards, that is not just wide players.

“We need more goals from midfield, central defenders need to score more, we need to score more from set-plays, we can improve in a lot of areas, that is the aim for what we are going to do going forward.”

Mahoney put the Gills ahead with a strike from the edge of the box before Salford levelled it up through Matt Smith before the break. Nichols and Jefferies both converted second-half crosses as Clemence’s side won comfortably in the end.

“I am proud of the performance,” he said. “First 15 minutes we struggled to get the ball off them,. They are a very possession-based team.

“They didn’t really hurt us but you feel the crowd were a bit frustrated that we couldn’t win the ball back, but our shape was good and they didn’t come through us, then by putting that work in they get their just rewards in the end.”