Gills back on the road with Coventry their next stop.
COVENTRY CITY V GILLINGHAM
St Andrew's (Home of Birmingham City)
Sky Bet League 1
Saturday August 24
Kick-off, 3pm
Team News:
Gillingham will be without Matty Willock for the trip to St Andrew’s to face Coventry City this weekend. The former Manchester United midfielder is now back in training though and could feature next weekend.
The Gills will be looking to build upon Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at home to Blackpool which ended the Tangerines 100% start to the League One campaign. Steve Evans is able to welcome back Mikael Ndjoli after he served a one match ban following his red card against Newport County, however depending on the fitness of Regan Charles-Cook who picked up a knock against Newport, Evans may decide to stick with the same Xl that drew midweek.
Saturday’s hosts have also endured a good start to the League One campaign and they were involved in an extraordinary game on Tuesday night as they held Portsmouth to a 3-3 draw at Fratton Park despite trailing 3-1 and reduced to nine men after two red cards. Manager Mark Robins could give a debut to new loanee signing Callum O’Hare who joined the Sky Blues this week for a season long loan from Premier League side Aston Villa.
Preview Comments:
Steve Evans – “I said to the boys when I came back [from Coventry last weekend], it was a real good performance and that is taking nothing away from Bristol Rovers, because when you break them down they have good players as well.
“I came away from their game very impressed.”
Mark Robins - “Gillingham are a good side.
“They have some good players with some pace, power and experience and they work extremely hard, so we have to be on our game as much as they have to be on theirs.
“It’s a game we will look forward to and we will be putting the finishing touches to our preparation today and hopefully we can start how we did on Tuesday night, but continue it throughout the game this time.”
Previous Meetings:
Gillingham have 16 wins from 55 competitive meetings between these two sides.
There have been 13 draws - including two 1-1 score-lines last season - while Gillingham have been beaten 26 times.
At the Ricoh Arena in February the Gills salvaged a draw with a 92nd minute Tom Eaves penalty, whilst at the Priestfield Stadium last August it was a 70th minute Elliott List equaliser that again rescued a point for the Gills.
The inaugural meetings took place in 1926-27 when the Gills did the double, winning each game 2-0.
Odds:
Coventry win – 19/20
Draw – 12/5
Gillingham win – 13/5
Special Bet: Both Teams to Score and Gillingham Win – 7/1.
Officials:
Referee - Martin Coy
Assistant Referee 1 - Andrew Laver
Assistant Referee 2 - Andrew Dallison
Fourth Official - Lisa Rashid
SAT NAV | B9 4RL