Brighton v Gillingham

MARK STIMSON has called on his strikers to help take the pressure off his injury-hit defence tonight.

The Gillingham manager takes his side to Brighton still without experienced defenders Ian Cox and Efe Sodje. And he'll be hoping that the best form of defence will be in attack as his side look to avoid a third straight League 1 defeat, at the Withdean Stadium.

Stimson said: "We have to be more of a threat at the other end. That takes the pressure off the defence. The strikers didn't do so well against Bournemouth as they didn't keep hold of the ball.

"Unfortunately at Yeovil, we lost our two centre halves. It's a big test and a big loss for our squad to lose two senior centre halves.

"I looked at the Brighton game and thought that both of them would be back. But Sodje’s eye injury has turned out to be a lot worse than we first thought and Ian Cox's thigh injury has turned a bit nasty – he's got no chance of playing."

Stimson will be without Chris Dickson, who has been recalled to Charlton, which means Delroy Facey is likely to lead the attack. Striker Shabazz Baidoo, on loan from QPR, will hope to make his first appearance.

Tonight’s game will go ahead after referee Mick Thorpe deemed the pitch playable following an afternoon inspection. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.

* For all the build-up ahead of tonight's match see today's Medway Messenger.