We look ahead to this weekend's league fixture against Swindon Town
Swindon Town v Gillingham
The County Ground
SkyBET League One
Saturday August 24
Kick-Off, 3pm
Team News:
Martin Allen’s only injury concern for this weekend’s game, besides Matt Fish’s long term knee ligament issue, is the fitness of midfielder Amine Linganzi.
The Congolese midfielder suffered a hamstring strain while on International duty last week, and the Gills Manager doesn’t believe he will be ready for action until the visit of Bristol City next Saturday.
It remains to be seen who will play up front with Bayo Akinfenwa, Danny Kedwell and Cody McDonald all vying for the two striker positions.
As for Swindon, now under the management of Mark Cooper after being confirmed as the new boss earlier this week, they may welcome back on-loan midfielder Ryan Mason.
The Tottenham youngster suffered a grade one hamstring tear in the Capital One Cup win over Torquay a couple of weeks ago, but could make his return against the Gills.
James McEveley is also likely to start for Town, he made 10 appearances for the Gills during the 04/05 season during a two month loan stint from Blackburn Rovers.
Manager’s Comments:
, and is eager for them to maintain the same attitude for the trip to Swindon.Brentford last SaturdayMartin Allen praised his players for their fine performance against
and we felt we let the supporters down.[at Wolves] “It was a great performance; all of the players were terrific. All of us were hurting after the previous away game :He said
“Saturday was full on from the first minute and we thoroughly deserved to win that game.
“They got in the play-offs last year so it’s another tough test with a different Manager. It’s how we play and what we do and we are a match for anyone on our day.”
Cooper, formerly the Manager at Darlington, Kettering and Peterborough, has been in charge of the first team on a caretaker basis for just over a month, and is eager to progress with the project at hand.
He said: “We have to have a reaction after last Saturday’s game which wasn’t good enough, and I am confident that will happen.
"The club has taken a different route over the last few months in terms of transfer policy and certainly the way we're trying to play football and the way we'll play football for a while to come."
Start to the Season:
The Gills got their first point on the board last Saturday following a 1-1 draw against Brentford at MEMS Priestfield Stadium, with Swindon having accumulated three points from their first three games.
Massimo Luongo’s first half strike against Stevenage was enough to record a 1-0 win at the County Ground on August 10, that coming four days after a repeat score line over Torquay which saw the Robins advance to the next round of the Capital One Cup.
Gillingham will climb above Swindon in the table should they claim a win.
Previous Meetings:
, although the result was still enough to see Swindon gain promotion to League One.recorded a 3-1 win at PriestfieldThe last time the two clubs met was on April 21 2012 when the Gills
Chris Whelpdale (2) and Danny Kedwell grabbed the goals for the hosts, with Alan McCormack grabbing what proved to be a consolation.
In total the teams have clashed on no less than 90 occasions. Of these the Gills have won 29 games, Swindon have claimed 35 victories, and the remaining 26 have resulted in a draw.
Officials:
Referee: Iain Williamson
Assistants: Mark Pottage and Neil Radford
Fourth Official: Michael Webb