Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett admitted his team had been outplayed by Gillingham in League Two on Saturday.
The Brewers' eight-game unbeaten run came to an abrupt halt with a 4-1 defeat at Priestfield, Zander Diamond scoring for Rowett's team early in the second half to make it 2-1.
"Gillingham are an excellent team. They're by far the best team we've played against this season and if I had to tip now, they will comfortably win the league," said Rowett. "They gave us a really good lesson, and it's really important that we learn from that.
"They were hard to defend against and at times we didn't do our jobs properly. When we eventually got our goal they scored quickly after and we couldn't get a foothold in the game.
"Gillingham defended well, they're a very organised team to play against.
"We've got to learn from the result. It's given us a benchmark, it shows where we need to be. We're a little short at the moment. That's our first loss in nine games, so I'm not going to berate the team because we've been good over that period."
