Winning was the most important thing for Gillingham boss Neil Harris in the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

Harris felt his side should have put the first round tie to bed in the opening half against AFC Fylde but with just one goal in it, they were always susceptible to a fightback. The Gills kept the hosts largely restricted to long-range efforts second half and held out for the win.

• Report: Gillingham 1-0 Fylde

The Gills boss said: “First and foremost, as I said to the players, what is relevant in cup football is getting through to the next round. We went to Brentford last week (in the Carabao Cup), had one shot, 19% possession and got through, amazing.

“This was slightly different, we became the favourites and they were the underdog. First half we were miles better and should have been three or four up in my opinion, but what you get being an underdog is freedom to go and express yourself.

"Second half we saw a team play with real confidence and they made the pitch as big as they could, threw caution to the wind and we had to be disciplined.

“We didn’t give chances away but they dominated possession and got shots from the edge of the box.

“Overall I am really pleased and delighted to be going to Dagenham, Saturday week (in round two), another tough game in the competition, but we got a clean sheet and we scored the first goal so we won the game, that is huge for us."

Harris felt they deserved to go through over the two matches - the first game ended 1-1 - and for him it wasn’t about relief.

“I wouldn’t say I was relieved, over the two games we deserved to win. We should have won the first game, the best team won the tie.

"Full credit to Fylde, they are a full-time unit, they pay well and they have a good set-up. They will go from strength to strength. They want to be in the Football League in a couple of years and I can see that happening.

“For us, delighted to get through another cup competition and delighted for the boys to have a clean sheet.”

Gillingham’s night might have been easier had Scott Kashket converted his early penalty. With the goalkeeper diving left, the striker rolled his effort wide of the opposite post. It was fellow striker Lewis Walker who won it, slotting home after the AFC Fylde defence was all at sea.

“I thought both centre-forwards did well,” said the Gills boss. “Kash will be majorly disappointed he didn’t score a penalty, I don’t think I have ever seen him miss one over the years, it was a major surprise.

"I think if he puts that in the back of the net then it is a completely different game, but I am really pleased for Lew and there were some strong performances on the night.”