Gills boss excited as the fixtures ahead of the 2015/16 season are announced
Justin Edinburgh says he is excited by the prospect of welcoming Sheffield United to MEMS Priestfield Stadium on the opening day of the 2015/16 League One season.
The fixtures were announced on Wednesday morning and the Manager was pleased to see his side beginning their campaign at home.
Speaking to the media he said: “I’m really excited by it; they missed out in the playoff semi-finals and I expect them to be one of the favourites for the title, let alone promotion and with Nigel [Adkins] in charge they have a lot of respect for him.
“They are well organised, he’s had good success wherever he’s been and I think it’s a great first game for us and our last three matches here produced good performances and results and we are looking to continue that and start the season with a good crowd.
“The atmosphere for our final game was quite phenomenal and that’s what he will be looking to do here at the start.”
Gillingham will do a lot of travelling in the league next season, racking up in excess of 9,000 miles including the Capital One Cup fixture against Plymouth Argyle.
Although the Manager conceded the timing of some fixtures were not ideal, he said it’s something the management and staff will deal with.
He added: “Everyone will look at their own fixtures and say things could have been kinder but if you look over the whole list I think it’s good. We start and finish at home which is fantastic – the Easter and Christmas periods are good.
“We have a few away games on a Tuesday night and we can deal with that as a club, it’s not ideal but it’s tough for the fans and if we look at our first six games four of them are away from home and three are outstandingly long trips.
“We have to deal with that, it’s our job but for the fans in the first three games they will get some serious mileage in. But knowing our fans and how they travelled last year they will do it in numbers and will be fantastic as they always are.”