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Hess: Ipoua must fight for place

PLAYER-MANAGER Andy Hessenthaler saluted Gillingham's supreme team effort in beating Wimbledon on Saturday and then fired off a warning to match-winner Guy Ipoua.

Hessenthaler, elated with the team's single-minded attitude in a near deserted ground, said after the 1-0 win: "Make no mistake, we produced a fantastic team performance. If there was one of our players going in for a tackle, there was another close by in support.

"The other pleasing thing is that Mamady Sidibe did well on his debut. It couldn't have been easy for him because he's not been with us that long so we haven't been able to do loads and loads of work with him."

Sidibe created Guy Ipoua's 49th minute match winner and the Gills boss wasted no time in bringing the Cameroon striker back to earth.

He said: "He's been to see me wanting to know why he doesn't start more games and I've made it clear to him that he must be more consistent.

"I was pleased with his performance today because he worked so hard. Now I want him to go on and improve on that against Derby on Tuesday.

"Guy is a frustrating player but I thought he linked up well with Big Mama today. The thing is that we've got good competition for places up front what with Rod Wallace and Tommy Johnson so I'm sure Guy will respond to that because the pressure is on."

Sidibe, who limped off injured with nine minutes remaining, is expected to be fit for Tuesday's visit of Derby when Hessenthaler is expected to name an unchanged side.

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