Brentford defender Mark Phillips said the sending off of striker Nathan Elder was probably the difference between picking up one point and three in the match at Gillingham.

The Bees were held to a 1-1 draw after the home side equalised Charlie MacDonald's first half strike with a Simeon Jackson header on the hour mark.

Nathan Elder was dismissed eight minutes later and Phillips explained how he saw the incident.

"It was a foul on Marvin [Williams] and he was down on the ground and they kept kicking him," said Phillips.

"He was trying to get up and Nathan was trying to help his team mate.

"Nathan said he took a head butt but said he didn't punch or do anything.

"We feel it is unjust.

"It's unfortunate Nathan got sent off, or we would have won.

"We did well in the first half, nicked a goal and held on until half time - we expected to do the same in the second half.

"We didn't really get going and that gave them the impetus to get the crowd going."

Phillips said his partnership with Alan Bennett at the heart of Brentford's defence was progressing well and said the squad was feeling confident.

"We know we can win each game," said Phillips. "Today we are massively disappointed we didn't get the points."

Captain Kevin O'Connor said he saw the draw as a point gained although he admitted he felt a little differently after the first 45 minutes.

"At half time we were looking to win the game," said O'Connor. "It didn't work out in the second half and we had to dig in.

"If we win our next game we will definitely look at this as a point gained."

See O'Connor's interview in full on Bees World on Monday afternoon - don't forget, you can subscribe for just 50p a week.