Match Previews

Preview | Gillingham v Carlisle United

24th March

Neil Harris says he has options available to him in the event he decides to rotate his squad for the visit of Carlisle at the weekend.

Gillingham v Carlisle United

Sky Bet League Two

MEMS Priestfield Stadium

Saturday March 25^th

Kick-Off, 3pm

Team News:

Aiden O’Brien could start after scoring the winning goal against Crewe in midweek. Seven subs will be available to the Gills boss if Taite Holtam is named in the squad.

Neil Harris has hinted he could make changes with the game being the third for the team in the space of a week. The game will come too soon for Scott Kashket who is slowly regaining match fitness.

Ben Barclay could start on Saturday for Carlisle, having started at Bradford in midweek. Paul Huntington was the player he replaced, and he is a doubt ahead of Saturday’s fixture and will need a late fitness test. Jamie Devitt and Jayden Harris are available for selection if needed.

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson said that the 18 players in the matchday squad at Bradford came through the game without any issues and will all be available for the weekend.

Manager Comments:

Neil Harris - "Carlisle are a good side and have had a really good season.

"They have been very consistent, the challenge in our last nine games is to build in performances against the top sides."

Paul Simpson - “Gillingham is next, so hopefully we’ll be fresh and we can go there and pick a side that will put on a performance for us.

“It’s in our hands in terms of the teams below, but we’re looking above as well. We want to be higher; we want to push ourselves, and we have targets that we want to achieve. We’ll keep working to do that.”

Previous Meetings:

When the two sides met earlier in the season, Carlisle came out on top thanks to Jon Mellish’s goal.

The Gills beat Carlisle 2-0 at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium during the 2006/07 season. Mark Bentley gave Gillingham an eighth-minute lead as he side-footed a first-time shot from just inside the penalty area into the far bottom corner.

Gary Mulligan made it two and secured the points in the final minute of normal time. Matt Jarvis did well making his way into the penalty area and got beyond a defender before pulling the ball back for Mulligan, who came sliding in to put the ball into the back of an empty net.