Defender Andy Smith struck a late winner for Gillingham and boss Gareth Ainsworth hailed the defender as “sensational”.

Smith popped up 10 minutes from time, turning the ball home from close range after Bradley Dack’s effort came back off the crossbar to seal a 2-1 victory and send the travelling Gills fans home happy.

It was a particularly satisfying moment for the centre-half, who had been beaten to the ball on a couple of occasions which led to goals in the 3-1 defeat at Accrington on the previous away trip.

But Ainsworth was full of praise for Smith’s response, highlighting his willingness to take responsibility for mistakes as well as his recent performances.

He said: “I thought Andy was sensational. I think against Port Vale, he had a brilliant game. Defended his goal zone well after Accrington, where he said, look, listen, my man scored from the set-piece. That's my fault.

“Which is brilliant. When you own things and when you can talk about your vulnerabilities, it makes you a stronger person. Andy's done that. He performs like that today. Wow. I'll take him all day.

“What a great finish, you know. He'll take that, a tap-in off a fantastic Bradley Dack effort.

“Bradley says it was going in the top corner and it took a deflection. So we'll have to trust him on that. He has done it before, by the way, so he probably is right. Smith is there to tap it in.”