ALEX MacDonald felt it was ‘only right’ not to celebrate his goal against former club Oxford United.

The Gillingham winger equalised from long range in the 30th minute of the Sky Bet League One clash to earn a 1-1 draw for Steve Evans’s side.

MacDonald reflected on his successful spell with the U’s in the build-up to yesterday’s game, his two years between 2015 and 2017 including promotion from Sky Bet League Two.

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And the 31-year-old wanted to show his respect for United after scoring his first Kassam Stadium goal since November 2016 - and his first of the season.

He said: “I think everyone knows my affection for this football club, the affection I had for the fans and the relationship that I had with them.

“My employers are now Gillingham and I want to do the best for them.

“Sometimes you do want to celebrate, but the amount of respect and gratitude I’ve got for this football club I thought it was only right to stand there and let the lads jump on me.”

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United bossed possession and had 25 shots to Gillingham’s eight, but could not add to Matty Taylor’s fifth-minute strike.

MacDonald ensured the spoils were shared and later put in one forceful tackle that left Cameron Brannagan on the ground.

He said: “I think everyone knows how I play, I’m up and at 'em, 100 miles an hour, I try to give everything for the team I’m playing for. This was no different.

“Oxford are a fantastic team, full of great players and talented players.

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“We spent large spells without the ball, but we were quite compact and tried to keep them to as minimal efforts on goal as possible.

“I think we did that at times, we gifted them a few opportunities but you’re going to have to work hard when you come to the Kassam and this was no different.

“We still had chances to win the game ourselves.

“When you’re trying to analyse things you come away and think ‘what if we did this or that’, but take the emotion away from it and it’s a good point for us.”