Preview: Gillingham v Doncaster Rovers in League 2 at Priestfield on Good Friday; Manager Neil Harris on having plenty to play for
Published: 05:00, 07 April 2023
Gillingham boss Neil Harris insists his team have plenty to play for this weekend and for the rest of the League 2 campaign.
Harris’ men are all-but safe from relegation after picking up seven league wins at home since the turn of the year. They host a mid-table Doncaster Rovers team today (Friday, 3pm) who won’t be involved in the battles at either end.
The Gills follow up Friday’s game with a trip to promotion-chasing Northampton Town on Easter Monday, the first of several against leading contenders in the division.
Harris said: “On paper what a cracking finish to the season for us, seven games, we still have to be mindful of the position we are in, but we have earned the right to enjoy the games now.
“I am sure there will be a good crowd in and (owners) Brad and Shannon Galinson are here in attendance (having returned from America this week) which is great for us as a group.
“Yes, Doncaster under Danny Schofield have had highs and lows over the last few months, not in great form, but it’s a league 2 fixture, a crazy division, anything can happen.
"We have to make sure we are every bit as organised and structured and disciplined and aggressive as we have been in our last eight games here, with seven wins. We take on Doncaster on Friday and then focus on a completely different game against Northampton, a team that is trying to get promoted as soon as possible, but we will deal with that and a thought process towards our away form come Friday at 5pm.
“We have got loads to play for, we still have to be mindful of the league position we are in, still want to finish on a real high, we want to put any nagging doubts over what is below us to bed as soon as possible, because we have a tough end to the season.
“What we want to do is keep the feel-good factor here at Priestfield flowing, we want to keep the fans engaged, we want to impress our owners in attendance. For us, we have everything to play for in this fixture, we want to be right at it.
“We have loved playing here since the (FA Cup) game against Leicester City and barring two five-minute spells against Bradford we have been brilliant, the challenge to the players is to replicate that again.
“At Priestfield teams have made it extremely difficult for us, teams have paid respect to us. Our home form has been magnificent for the last few months and teams have paid homage to that.”
The Gills will hope to have Dom Jefferies back from injury at some point over the weekend. Harris admits the young midfielder was a miss at Barrow last Saturday.
He said: “I feel we have game-changers in the group, whether that is to shore up a solid performance and see a game out or trying to affect the top end of the pitch and be more attack-minded, whether with quality, aggression or pace.
“That’s maybe where we missed Dom last week, either at the start or off the bench, just that attacking intent, the legs and the energy.
“At the moment if you take one or two out of my first 15-16 players then we are a little light or unbalanced again, that is the importance of building a squad like we started in January but will continue in the next window.”
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Luke Cawdell