We look ahead to Saturday's game at MEMS Priestfield Stadium in Sky Bet League One
GILLINGHAM V ROTHERHAM UNITEDSky Bet League One
MEMS Priestfield Stadium
Saturday April 5
Kick-Off, 3pm
Team news:
Gills will be without striker Danny Kedwell who is set to be side-lined for a couple more weeks with a knee injury.
Chris Whelpdale remains out too after injuring his ankle in February against Oldham. Matt Fish remains a long term absentee following his injury at the beginning of the season, but has returned to light training.
As for Rotherham their only injury concern is Mark Bradley who was recently ruled out for the rest of the campaign. The defender has had an operation on his knee and so will recover during the off season.
Apart from that Manager Steve Evans has no fresh injury or suspension concerns ahead of the trip.
Manager Comments:
The Gills boss is looking forward to this weekend’s League One fixture against an in form Rotherham side, and Peter Taylor is hoping his players can show their quality after been beaten in the reverse fixture in November.
He said: “I think they have some good players and we saw the absolute best of them when we played them up there. They didn’t see the best of us that’s a certain and that’s what I’m looking to reverse.
“As much as Rotherham come here with 15 matches unbeaten and in great form, I still believe we can go and beat them. It’s all about how we start and not letting the opposition start.
“Danny Kedwell and Chris Whelpdale won’t be involved, but apart from that there will be the same type of players involved or available for selection.”
Rotherham
The Gaffer – Steve Evans
Evans started his managerial career at Stamford, before two spells at Boston put him firmly on the radar after guiding the club to the Football League in 2002.
He then went on to manage Crawley Town where he spent five seasons and, like Boston, led them to the Football League in the 2010-2011 season after winning the Conference National.
In April 2012 he left Crawley, who were subsequently promoted to League One, to take over at Rotherham on a three year deal and in his first season in charge they finished as runners up to the Gills in the 2012/2013 League Two campaign.
One to Watch – Ben Pringle
Midfielder Ben Pringle has put in countless impressive performances for Rotherham United this season. The 24-year-old playmaker joined the Millers back in 2011 and has racked up nearly 100 appearances since signing for the South Yorkshire club.
In the reverse fixture he proved difficult to contain, scoring the third in a 4-1 victory for the home side.
The Rotherham number 18 already has eleven assists this season as well as five goals.
The Skipper: Craig Morgan
The centre-back, who joined the Millers in 2012, immediately made his mark at the heart of the Rotherham defence as they were promoted from League Two.
The experienced captain has over 300 senior appearances to his name after spells at MK Dons, Peterborough and Preston North End. The defender has also been capped by his country and has represented Wales 23 times.
Rotherham - the season so far
The Millers can boast the second best away record in League One, having accumulated 40 points from their 19 league games (twelve wins, four draws and only three losses).
They come in to the game fourth in Sky Bet League One with 75 points, and are still within a shout of gaining automatic promotion.
The Millers are unbeaten in fifteen games; their last defeat came on New Year’s Day when Coventry ran out 3-1 winners at the New York Stadium.
In the various cup competitions, they were knocked out in the second round of the Capital One Cup following a 3-0 defeat at Premiership side Aston Villa.
In the JPT they were eliminated at the third hurdle by Fleetwood Town after a 3-1 loss, and in the FA Cup the Millers were knocked out in the second round by Rochdale after a surprising 2-1 defeat at home.
Previous Meetings:
The last time the two sides met was in the aforementioned reverse league fixture this season when Rotherham ran out convincing 4-1 winners, in a game where Jake Hessenthaler made his debut late on as a sub.
The game didn’t start well for the Gills with loanee John Mousinho injured early on, which really set the tone for the rest of the game.
The visitors reduced the deficit to 3-1 in the second half with Cody McDonald grabbing the goal, but James Tevernier put the result beyond doubt with an impressive strike in his first match for the club.
However, Gills took maximum points the last time the teams met at Priestfield. The hosts ran out 1-0 winners thanks to ex-Rotherham forward Deon Burton’s 12th goal of the season when he stabbed in Danny Kedwell’s flick on.
The defeat for Rotherham added to their record of twelve games without a win at Priestfield. The last time a Rotherham side won in Kent was back in 1988 in the Old Third Division.
In total the two clubs have met on 55 occasions – of those the Gills have won 23 games, Rotherham have 17 victories and the remaining 15 games have been a draw.
Current Form:
Gills: WWDLW (10 points)
Rotherham United: WDWWW (13 points)
Betting:
Sky Bet are offering 13/2 for Cody McDonald to be the first goal scorer on Saturday; the striker will be looking to add to his fourteen goals already this season.
The odds for a Gills win are 11/4 with Rotherham at even money. The draw is 12/5, with Bayo Akinfenwa 7/4 to score any time.
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Officials:
Referee - STEVEN RUSHTON
Assistants - Carl Fitch and Robert Whitton
Fourth Official - Graham Kane