Neil Harris addressed the media prior to Saturday's game against Mansfield at ME7.
Neil Harris said his players will be relishing their top-of-the-table clash on Saturday as second-place Gillingham face a third-placed unbeaten Mansfield side at Priestfield Stadium.
Both teams have enjoyed scintillating starts to the season, racking up the points and putting themselves amongst the frontrunners and Harris says it is great for the fans.
“It’s been a positive start,” said Harris. “As a manager you want your fans to be galvanised when they walk in the stadium. You want them to come in excited about being there. You want them to, win, lose or draw, enjoy the experience here. Brad and Shannon promised it the moment they took over that they would transform the football club on and off the pitch and they are just following through with that.
“Fans are turning up early because they want to be here. They want to be involved and we need to keep developing off the pitch and make sure we are improving on the pitch. If we can keep ourselves at the top end of the division as long as we can then we will keep moving forward as a football club. That will help us to attract better players and improve our budget, so it all goes hand-in-hand.”
Harris then warned his players to expect an incredibly tough battle against Mansfield as he plots to defeat a side that impressively haven’t suffered defeat in any competition, both in the league and cups.
“They are a really good side,” admitted Harris. “The team has been built over a number of seasons and various transfer windows. They have a big squad of good players who have a lot of experience at this level and above. They are hard to play against, fast, aggressive and extremely athletic and they have a natural ability to score. They are unbeaten. They will definitely be right up there at the top of the league this year.
“I am going to have to find the best team and the best formation to play. We know we have a great points total, and a great points total since January. We are in a healthy position but we always want more. That’s the demand because we want to achieve. I have to demand it from myself and the group that we have to hit the standards. Make no bones about it, we are doing really well but we just want to keep moving in the right direction.”