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Gillingham have made two changes for the visit of Carlisle United.
Lee Martin and Josh Parker are both starting on the bench after picking up knocks last weekend.
Returning to the starting XI is midfielder Scott Wagstaff and defender Max Ehmer.
Gillingham: Holy, O'Neill, Ogilvie, Ehmer, Zakuani, Clare, Byrne, Wagstaff, Hessenthaler, Eaves, Wilkinson. Subs: Nelson, Martin, Parker, Nugent, Oldaker, Simpson, Cundle.
Carlisle: Bonham, Grainger, Joyce, Liddle, Parkes, Jones, Bennett, Brown, Lambe, Etuhu, Hill. Subs: George, T Miller, Hope, Devitt, Cosgrove, O’Sullivan, S Miller.
Gillingham will be hoping Carlisle’s poor form infront of goal at Priestfield continues this Saturday.
The Cumbrians haven’t scored in any of their last five visits.
Carlisle’s last away goal against the Gills came in December 1994, when big defender Dean Walling netted in a 1-0 win. Their previous two visits also ended with a blank scoresheet.
It’s the first time the teams have met in the FA Cup and Gills boss Steve Lovell will be eager to maintain his side’s good form since taking over, losing just one of his 10 games in charge and unbeaten in the last seven.
Carlisle head to the Gills sitting mid-table in League 2 but knowing they have already taken the scalp of a League 1 side, knocking Oldham Athletic out in the opening round.
Gills: 21 Draws: 10 Carlisle: 17
Gills: D 0-0 v Oldham (h), D 1-1 v Blackpool (a), W 1-0 v Walsall (a), D 1-1 v Bury (h), W 7-5 v Reading (h) Trophy, W 2-1 v Leyton Orient (h) FA Cup.
Carlisle: D 1-1 v Morecambe (h), L 0-3 v Luton (a), W 1-0 v Grimsby (a), W 4-0 v Yeovil (h), L 1-2 v Fleetwood (h) Trophy, W 3-2 Oldham (h) FA Cup.
Gillingham 1 Carlisle 0
It’s been four years since Carlisle played at Priestfield and on that day they left empty-handed.
A Danny Kedwell penalty was enough to take all three points from the League 1 fixture.
Gillingham, then under the management of Peter Taylor, won the penalty after Danny Hollands had been tripped in the box by Danny Livesey.
Both teams finished the match with 10 men, with Carlisle’s task made even harder after Lee Miller receiving a straight red card after an elbow on Adam Barrett.
Leon Legge soon followed Miller down the tunnel after receiving a second yellow card for a foul.
Carlisle had to settle for a point from their last match, a 1-1 home draw with Carlisle.
Boss Keith Curle bemoaned his side’s quality upfront.
He said: “We didn’t use the ball well in their final third at all. We were poor as an attacking unit.
“We had no urgency when we got to good areas and that means you’re then relying on the resilience of your defence and the discipline of your midfield to get locked on and to stop them from moving the ball quickly.
“When we did get into the final third we didn’t have the quality we needed to really cause them problems. That’s because we consistently failed to hold onto the ball.
“The negative is that we didn’t have any fluency in our play. We weren’t moving things around enough but, even though things didn’t go our way, we came away with a point.”
Hallam Hope
Once tipped for the top, Hallam Hope has taken a step back to get his career going again.
Hope came through the ranks at Everton at the same time as Ross Barkley and there were high hopes for both.
He also played in the same England junior team as Raheem Sterling but his journey has taken a different path to many of his former team-mates, after opting to join Bury permanently three years ago, in a bid to get some regular action.
A year later he was on loan at Carlisle and they made the move permanent in the summer after his release by Bury. It’s a signing that is paying off, after a slow start, with Hope bagging seven goals so far, from his last 18 appearances.
One of those goals came in their 3-2 win over Oldham in the last round of the FA Cup.
Hope will be keen to remind people that he’s still around and the FA Cup will be the ideal platform.
Andy Woolmer
Games: 6 (Yellows 14, Reds 0).
The Northamptonshire official came under fire recently, when taking charge of Charlton’s game against MK Dons.
He dished out eight yellow cards in that game and awarded MK Dons a 90 minute penalty – a decision which appeared to be made by the assistant - and they scored to level the game.
Charlton boss Karl Robinson was openly critical of the referee’s performance through the game and was incensed that the penalty was given, especially as he felt there was a foul on one of his players in the build-up.
Woolmer – who was refereeing Championship football last season – took charge of a goalless draw against Swindon on his previous visit to Priestfield in February 2016.
Assistants: Michael Webb and Daniel Cook. Fourth official: Nigel Lugg.
Gillingham 0 Oldham Athletic 0
The Gills came agonisingly close to scoring a late winner against Oldham.
Luke O’Neill’s stoppage time free-kick was turned onto the bar by keeper Johny Placide.
Earlier in the match Mark Byrne had made a superb goalline clearance to deny Oldham’s Queensy Menig in the second half.
That result saw the gills drop back into the bottom four of League 1 but their unbeaten run now stands at seven games in all competitions.
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Gills are waiting on the fitness of midfielder Lee Martin and Josh Parker.
Martin suffered a blow to the head from the ball on Saturday and Parker also got a whack.
Boss Steve Lovell could rest defender Gabriel Zakuani – spotted this week supporting his former club Peterborough at Charlton – but the decision will be down to the player.
Defender Alex Lacey took part in a practice game at Ebbsleet on Tuesday as he continues to regain his match fitness.
The 24-year-old hasn’t featured for the Gills since a goalless draw with Scunthorpe at the end of September. Both he and fit-again Ben Nugent will be eager to feature if a place becomes available but the pair are likely to be behind Max Ehmer in the pecking order.
Gillingham are 13/10 to beat Carlisle with bookmakers SkyBet and it’s 13/5 for the draw. Carlisle are 19/10 to pull off a giant-killing and win the game.
Those feeling confident might like the look of the odds of 50/1 on a 4-0 win for Steve Lovell’s much-improved side.
Gillingham haven't made the third round since the 2011/12 season, when they met Premier League Stoke at Priestfield, losing 3-1.
If the Gills make it through on Saturday then they will be in the hat on Monday night along with the 44 Premier League and Championship sides.
A draw on Saturday will mean the two teams replaying at Brunton Park on the week commencing December 11. That would see the Kent Senior Cup game against Maidstone (scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 12) being moved.
