There was an ‘angry and frustrated’ dressing room at the end of Saturday’s game according to Gillingham’s Max Ehmer.

The skipper was speaking after Gills’ 3-0 defeat at Oxford in League 1.

“I think the first half was a shambles really,” said Ehmer.

“We made a game of it second half but first half was nowhere near good enough.

“The basics weren’t there and that is something we need to learn as soon as possible, because we have a big game on Saturday (at home to lowly Southend) and we need to turn it around.

“We started the game well. That’s the frustrating thing.

“We did our own things, we didn’t stick to our game plan and that is down to us as players and individuals.

“We have to learn from it very fast, we have a massive game on Saturday.”

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The Gills improved in the second half but were unable to alter the scoreline.

“We did a lot better,” said the imposing centre-half. “But I don’t think it comes down to the shape, I think it was individual hunger and willingness to do what you need to do.

“That is down to us as individuals. It is all of us, you can’t expect to go in 3-0 down and for a single player to think, ‘I did well enough or worked hard enough’. As a collective unit it wasn’t good enough.”

Next weekend opponents Southend are managerless, with just one win from 10 games, sitting third from bottom.

Ehmer knows he and his team-mates need to put Saturday’s performance behind them.

“We have to be positive,” he said.

“We look forward to the game Saturday which is another opportunity to get three points.

“We will be confident going into that game, we need to dust off that performance and result. We will be going into the game confident.”

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