Gills loan midfielder Michael Doughty felt the team showed “character” in their cup clash with Bristol City.

The QPR loanee was Gillingham’s stand-out performer in a 2-1 defeat at Priestfield.

“I thought we were quite unlucky to be 2-0 down in the first place,” said Doughty.

“A bit of quality from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas got them the second goal but credit to the lads. They showed a lot of character to get into the game.

“Ideally we wouldn’t be in that position and we should be starting games faster but towards the end we put the pressure on and showed we are a good side and we can compete against sides like Bristol City.”

The Gills conceded five minutes before the break and again with 13 minutes left before a Danny Kedwell penalty gave them hope.

“In spells we matched Bristol City and showed that we are a good team,” said the midfielder.

“We need to try and produce those moments on a more consistent basis throughout the 90 minutes.

“Losing the goal before half-time wasn’t ideal. I thought we had matched them relatively well up until that point, but credit to the lads, they came out and showed there is good character within the team. I think we produced a much improved second half performance.”

Despite the improved performance it was still another defeat.

Doughty said: “We are under no illusions that we are in the relegation zone at the moment and the FA Cup was an opportunity for us to build some confidence against a really top side in the league.

“As players and professionals we understand that we are not producing the results that maybe the performances may have deserved. As a unit we have to continue to work hard and hopefully that result will come.

“We really had our tails up towards the last 10-15 minutes (against Bristol City). It just didn’t seem to fall for us, that one opportunity that could have got us the replay.

“You can’t fault the effort levels that were put in, everyone out there worked for the shirt and they showed a great deal of desire and hunger to win the game.

“It is a good barometer of where we are as a team. To play against an unbeaten side in Bristol City, who have gone through the season unmatched by any other team and we showed for long periods of the game that we are capable of going up against them.”