Martin looks ahead to the weekend's long trip to Morecambe
Martin Allen says there are no excuses for the players regarding fatigue having been given the appropriate rest and preparation for this weekend’s long trip to Morecambe.
The Gills drew 0-0 with Exeter on Tuesday evening and will leave for the Globe Arena on Friday hoping to extend their run of fine form on the road.
Martin however has warned against complacency and says Morecambe will provide tough opposition.
He said: “We’ve seen over the past couple of months that the teams at the bottom are putting together some really good runs and fighting for their lives.
“Morecambe, with a few good results, could get on the back end of the play-offs; I thought they played very well when they played here [Gills winning 2-1 courtesy of a late Deon Burton goal]. They are a good team, well organised and they have some dangerous players.
“We have been watching a DVD of all their clips and, as we have said and witnessed at Priestfield, all the teams can play well if you let them.
“At the end of the day it’s about our concentration, attitude and professionalism and putting all that in to place for us to do our jobs, and we are a team.
“We recognise people’s strengths and weaknesses but as a team unit we are decent.
“The preparation – 95% of it is about ourselves, what we do and how we play and we give information about the opposition to our players and we have an analyst who helps us compile this information and puts it all together for us.
“I gave the players Wednesday off after the long trip from Exeter, they had Thursday morning off. We will train for an hour, they have been well fed and there can be no excuses now going up for the weekend of fatigue.
“Our players are very fit anyway and very strong and as a unit of men they are a great unit so on Friday morning we will train at Priestfield for one hour and then we’re in to London on the train for a two-and-a-half hour trip to Morecambe that Mr. Scally has organised which is another fine gesture.”
The Manager responded to questions regarding two strong Morecambe players, namely Jack Redshaw and Kevin Ellison, and Martin Allen believes both will be lively on the day and said he respected Ellison for a gesture he made during the game at Priestfield.
He said: “Jack came on as a substitute here and played very well so we made a note of him that day. He is only 5’6 but he’s a good player and the other one of course is Ellison who has had a great season and he is also someone we were interested in signing, but has just signed a new contract.
“He’s a character, he’s a personality, he has belief and I liked it that he shook my hand in the tunnel after the game and apologised for the little moment with Matt Fish that made me angry and I had a lot of respect for him for that.
“He played very well against us – he’s a good player and a good bloke and I think the fact he came over said a lot about him as a person and right through the whole season he has been superb for Morecambe.”
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