Gills back at home for the first time in 2021.
Gillingham v Burton Albion
Sky Bet League One
MEMS Priestfield Stadium
Saturday January 9
Kick-Off, 2pm
Team News:
Steve Evans will be forced into at least one change on Saturday as Josh Eccles was recalled by parent club Coventry City. Tyreke Johnson signed on loan from Southampton on Friday afternoon and is available for selection.
Jordan Graham is likely remain in the starting line-up having played the full 90 minutes against Plymouth last weekend.
Jack Tucker and John Akinde will push for starts, whilst Evans is hopeful that Zech Medley could be available.
Hayden Carter could start the game having joined Burton Albion on loan from Blackburn Rovers earlier this week. Niall Ennis will not feature having returned to parent club Wolves.
New manager, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, could make wholesale changes after Burton were beaten by Oxford United last weekend.
Management Comments:
Paul Raynor - “The challenge is that there’s a new manager coming in, and that normally gets a team responding. Particularly a good one.
“Jimmy’s been there before, and he will know a lot of them guys. He will know what buttons to push, and he’s a very knowledgeable guy.
“We’ve come across him many, many times and I’m sure he will have a positive response.”
Jordan Graham - “ We’ve had a good week on the training pitches. We’ve gone in-depth into shape and patterns of play, the boys have enjoyed it.
“It’s been positive and the attitude has been good. The quality has also been good, and we’re back at our training ground. Everything’s been positive this week, and I think its been leading up to Saturday’s game.”
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - “The organisation is not right. It needs to be sorted and then, hopefully, we can get the foundation right. It wasn’t there (against Oxford).
“We are leaking too many goals and we need to try and reduce that soon because if we carry on doing that we aren’t going to win any matches. We need to significantly improve in that area.”
Previous Meetings:
08/02/2020 - Burton Albion 0-0 Gillingham - Sky Bet League One
10/08/2019 - Gillingham 1-2 Burton Albion - Sky Bet League One
12/01/2019 - Burton Albion 2-3 Gillingham - Sky Bet League One
11/08/2018 - Gillingham 3-1 Burton Albion - Sky Bet League One
30/04/2016 - Burton Albion 3-1 Gillingham - Sky Bet League One
The last meeting between the two sides ended in a scoreless draw as Gills were unable to take advantage of ten-man Burton at the Pirelli Stadium. Oliver Sarkic was sent off with a little over 20 minutes to go, but Steve Evans’ side could not find a winner.
Gillingham’s last win at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium against Burton Albion came in August 2018. Despite falling a goal behind, a Tom Eaves brace and Luke O’Neill free-kick completed an impressive turnaround for Steve Lovell’s side.
The two sides have met each other on 13 occasions, and Gillingham lead the head-to-head with six wins to five. There have also been two draws in the fixture.
Odds:
Gillingham win - 11/8
Draw - 23/10
Burton Albion win - 9/5
Special Bet: Jordan Graham to score first and Gillingham to win 3-1- 60/1.
Officials:
Referee: Brett Huxtable
Assistants: Gareth Viccars and Andy Bennett
Fourth Official: Paul Kelly
iFollow:
Gills season ticket holders can watch the game completely free of charge provided the email address used to access the iFollow platform matches the one on the club database. If you are not sure which email is registered then please contact us on ticketoffice@priestfield.com.
Once logged in, access the match centre approximately half an hour before kick-off and you should be able to click a "Watch Now" icon which will give you the feed to the live pictures. Just before kick-off you should also receive audio from BBC Radio Kent.
For more information on the change to the iFollow system, click here.
If you are not a season ticket holder then you can watch the game for a one off fee of £10! Click the below graphic to process your video match pass order.
