GILLINGHAM'S reserve game tonight at Brentford will be crucial in determining who gets the three places up for grabs in Saturday's side at Nottingham Forest. Player-manager Andy Hessenthaler has been forced into making changes following Aston Villa's recall of England Under-20 defender J-Lloyd Samuel which has come on top of suspensions to Iffy Onuora and Marcus Browning.

Mark Patterson, Mark Saunders, Paul Shaw, Ty Gooden and Robert Taylor are all in contention along with the manager. The loss of Onuora's physical presence from the attack is certain to be felt at Forest and Hessenthaler will be hoping that the on-loan Taylor can prove his match fitness after persistent hamstring problems against the club where he established his goalscoring reputation.

Hessenthaler has made no secret of his admiration for the in-form Onuora and said: "Big Iffy has been superb and we're going to miss him. His strength and power have caused problems to so many defences and if he's not been scoring himself, he's been creating for others."

In addition to Saturday's match, Onuora also misses the games against Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Portsmouth.

If Taylor continues to struggle for fitness, the Gills boss could recall Shaw to the starting line-up to play up front alongside Marlon King and Guy Ipoua. Alternatively, he could change formation and play two up front. Tonight's match at Griffin Park kicks off at 7pm.