Gillingham v Burnley

GILLINGHAM boss Stan Ternent and his assistant Ronnie Jepson face their old club Burnley on Saturday hoping to extend the Kent club's run to eight without defeat.

Jepson said: "We’re in form and when you get points away from home at places like Preston it’s important to win your home games. Obviously there’s added incentive being against Burnley.

"Stan was there for a number of years and did an unbelievable job and it should be a decent game."

Ternent remains a popular figure in his home town of Burnley where he still lives and is likely to receive a big reception from the travelling supporters at Priestfield.

"We got a promotion there and got to two FA Cups quarter-finals and missed the play-offs by a goal to get us into the big league," said Jepson.

"I’ve no doubts that Stan will get an unbelievable reception, he’s well thought of up there. He changed it all around there and they are bearing the fruits of that now.

"He dragged them up by the scruff of the neck, making them into a force that the Burnley fans expected and built a solid foundation."

Jepson believes that if himself and Ternent can keep Gills up, it would be as big an achievement as anything at Turf Moor.

He said: "It will be on a par because the way Gillingham were when Stan came to the club, as we all know, was a difficult situation.

"I don’t think many people fancied Stan to keep Gillingham up but the players have responded and been tremendous."

Jepson is delighted the way his players have performed since their arrival and hopes they’ll be able to keep it going. He said: "The lads have dug in and got some valuable points.

"We’re not out of it yet and all we’ll keep doing is keeping our shape and balance, which is what we’re working on and they’ve responded well. What we have done is found a bit of consistency and hope we can maintain that until the end of the season."

Centre-back Barry Ashby is still a doubt for the Burnley match, while Mark Saunders is recovering well from his broken leg and eyeing a return before the end of the season.

* You can keep up to date with all the action on kmfm if you're not going to the Priestfield on Saturday.

Hear regular live updates on 'Sportswatch' with Simon Watts from 2pm.

Frequencies:

Related article

Don't miss a minute of the action