GILLINGHAM manager Andy Hessenthaler takes his squad to Bradford on Saturday adopting a siege mentality over what he feels has been a week of discrimination against his players.

Hessenthaler’s man-management skills undergo rigorous scrutiny as he decides whether skipper and centre-back Chris Hope is in the right frame of mind to make his 142nd consecutive appearance for the club.

With national newspaper reporters camped outside his home near Sittingbourne following the revelation that the club's former nutritionist sent him a late-night text message, Hope has been under immense pressure.

On Tuesday, goalkeeper Jason Brown left the field in tears after being subjected to racial abuse while on international duty for the Wales Under-21 side against Serbia Montenegro in Belgrade's Red Star Stadium.

The club's Player of the Year has vowed to lodge a complaint to UEFA after being taunted by Serbian spectators.

On top of that, striker Tommy Johnson has been hit with a three-match suspension that keeps him out of the games against Watford, Cardiff and Millwall.

The Gills boss believed the punishment did not fit the crime after Johnson was ordered off at Cambridge in the Carling Cup.

All he would say was: “It's been a difficult week for the club because what has happened has been beyond our control. Coming on top of our injury problems, we could have done without all this.”

Brown, 21, who is tipped as a future Wales No 1, said: "My parents always taught me to rise above abuse from ignorant people.

“I have played at grounds which have a reputation for racism and heard nothing. Tt’s not right that I should have to put up with behaviour like that.”