More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Manager Neil Harris will pick his “bravest 11” for Gillingham’s trip to Sutton United tonight.
Options are limited at the Gills with a small squad and some injuries to forward players but Harris hopes those he picks will turn in a better performance than last time out.
Gillingham lost their basement battle against Colchester United 1-0 on Boxing Day, extending their winless run in League 2 to 10 games and making it seven league outings in a row without scoring. They are, unsurprisingly, bottom of the division.
The Gills were booed off at Priestfield with fans chanting “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” to some of the players.
Ahead of the visit to 15th-placed Sutton (7.45pm), Harris said: “I will pick the bravest team that I can to make sure the lads that I put out on the pitch will have a go. Not because the other lads are bad lads, just because they have a winning mentality, although I haven’t seen it.
“I have to take stock [from the Colchester game] and look at that and look at players who played well individually - Robbie [McKenzie] did well, Dom Jefferies was excellent - then we have to look at some players who didn’t do so well but we have limited options to make changes at the moment until the January transfer window.”
Gillingham have already played Sutton this season and beat them 1-0 - one of their two wins in the league so far. Sutton have lost just one of their last five games, against leaders Leyton Orient.
Harris, who was at that game, said: “Against Sutton you have to stand up and be counted and compete and we have to make sure we come out on the right side of those tight calls [unlike against Colchester] with the ricochet for the goal [and] the penalty that wasn’t given. Nothing has gone our way all season.”
The Gills are now three points from safety in the League 2 drop zone. They follow Sutton with a visit to second-placed Stevenage on Monday (3pm).
Those two games come before playing Leicester at home in their live televised FA Cup Third Round match on Saturday, January 7.
By the time the Gills host Hartlepool on January 14 the manager will hope to have added more new players to his squad - having signed Tom Nichols yesterday - as they look to avoid a second straight relegation.
That threat comes amid a takeover from US businessman Brad Galinson that has at least given fans hope of a better 2023. With only seven league wins in 2022, it’s officially the club’s worst-ever calendar year.
