Gareth Ainsworth told his Gillingham players not to fear defeat before their trip to Shrewsbury – and urged them to go out and show what they were capable of.

The message paid off as the Gills produced a spirited performance to claim a 2-1 victory, with Harry Waldock opening the scoring before Andy Smith struck a late winner after the hosts had equalised from the penalty spot.

The result came after a tough week, with plenty of criticism aimed at the manager and some players following a 4-1 home defeat against Grimsby Town the week before.

Ainsworth said: “It was on the back of a really tough week. Accrington [a 3-1 loss from their last away trip] and Grimsby weren't nice.

“We had to sit through some hours of footage and say, ‘Look, this isn't us. This isn't right’. I told the boys to play with no pressure.

“I said, ‘I'll take a defeat today. Don't worry about that’. I said to them before the game, ‘Don't worry about that you might get beat because then you tighten up and you start going safe. Let's go out there and show what good players you are. Be ten feet tall’. I thought at times, Omar [Beckles], Smithy and Logan [Dobbs] were 10 feet tall. They were fantastic.

“[Goalkeeper] Ollie was solid at the back and the rest of them in front were just very good. The energies. Nick [Freeman]'s obviously whacked his ankle. We'll have to check that. Conor was cramping up like you wouldn't believe. But we got over the line.

“Credit to the experienced boys that I brought on [from the bench] because I know what it's like to sit on a bench in your 30s. It's not nice, and you want to play. You want to be a part of it. All four of them played a huge part to get us over the line, so thank you, boys and thank you, fans.”

Ainsworth had been critical last weekend after the big loss, questioning whether some of his players were equipped for League Two.

He said: “I told the boys last week and I said it in the press that that's not good enough. We can raise our standards. I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe in them like I do.

“They can get to this standard. They're such good guys and they're such good players. I felt bad saying it, but I want to look at myself and say, I can get better as well. What are my messages? How clear am I? So we worked really hard this week.

“I've got to give credit to Stevie [Craig] and Pete [Gill] again, my coaches, because they were really good and then when it started kicking off on the benches, you've got Deren [Ibrahim] there who comes up and then stands up for everything. It's a real positive, scrapping mentality we've got together. The whole staff, the whole players. I thought the win was deserved.”

Waldock’s third-minute opener was cancelled out when Shrewsbury scored from the penalty spot in the second half.

The hosts enjoyed plenty of possession and won a number of set-pieces in and around the Gills' area, but the best chances fell to the visitors.

Home keeper Will Brook made some big saves but couldn't keep out the close-range finishes from Waldock and Smith at either end of the game.

Ainsworth said: “It was good because we got pegged back and, to be fair, Shrewsbury chucked a lot of pressure at us, and they're putting the goalkeeper in the box at the end of the game. Their centre-halves were striding through, leaving one-on-one. They go for it and that's what you get. [We came] through that to win the game.

“I thought we created the best chance of the game. We might not create tons and tons of chances because of the way we're playing, the style of play, but when we do, they're usually good chances. We started the game so well. Harry Waldock with a cracking finish and I thought Ronan had a couple of great chances, not saying he should have scored, the great saves from the keepers.

“Harry made the keeper make an amazing save. I think Ollie was only tested once, really.

“It was a lot of set pieces from them and chucking it in, we knew that would come, because they're the top set piece team in the league. But we are enjoying the way we're playing. We're enjoying the way we get our opportunities and we're clinical.”