Gillingham will need to be at their very best to halt a Blackburn Rovers side sitting pretty at the top of League 1.

Rovers are looking to make an immediate return to the Championship following relegation last season.

An impressive run of form has taken them top of the pile, losing just one of their last 26 games in the league.

The Gills won’t be paying too much attention to the form book, however, after producing some unexpected results already under Steve Lovell, including first-ever wins at Charlton and Plymouth.

Gillingham have not beaten Blackburn at Priestfield before, losing five and drawing one of their previous six meetings.

Don’t rule out another first this weekend, however, as the Gills attempt to keep in the hunt for a play-off place.

Head to head;

Gills wins: 1 Draw: 3 Blackburn wins: 6

League form;

Gillingham (WLDDWD): Plymouth (a) 3-1, Bury (a) 1-2, Shrewsbury (a) 1-1, Walsall (h) 0-0, Northampton (a) 2-1, Peterborough (h) 1-1.

Blackburn (WDWWWW): Blackpool (h) 3-0, Wigan (h) 2-2, Wimbledon (a) 3-0, Walsall (a) 2-1, Bury (h) 2-0, Portsmouth (a) 2-1.

Last meeting at Priestfield;

Gillingham 1 Blackburn Rovers 3 – August 25, 2009

Blackburn were too strong for the Gills when they last met at Priestfield, back in 2009.

Rovers, then managed by Sam Allardyce, won the match 3-1 infront of a crowd of more than 7,000.

An early goal from David Dunn put Blackburn in charge and they doubled the lead shortly after the restart, with a David Hoilett effort.

Simeon Jackson pulled one back from the penalty spot for the Gills but Morten Pedersen hit back with a goal direct from a corner-kick just four minutes later.

Last time out;

Portsmouth 1 Gillingham 3

Gillingham put a poor first half behind them to register an impressive comeback victory.

They scored some quality goals in the process as they fought back from going a goal down. Jemal Lowe’s decisive 19 minute strike put the hosts ahead but a great tackle from Luke O’Neill denied him a certain second.

Half-time sub Conor Wilkinson levelled the scores three minutes after the restart and captain Lee Martin then scored twice to seal a remarkable turnaround.

Team news;

Conor Ogilvie was back in training this week after a bout of tonsillitis.

He missed the trip to Portsmouth but his place was filled by Callum Reilly, who took to the task well.

Gills boss Steve Lovell must now decide on whether to return Ogilvie to the left side of defence, stick with Reilly or bring Bradley Garmston in.

Alex Lacey had a run-out on Monday in a practice game but he is expected to miss out again, with Bradford next week pencilled in as a return date.

Upfront Lovell must decide if Conor Wilkinson has earned a rare start, following his impact from the bench at Portsmouth.

One to watch – Bradley Dack;

Blackburn are a team with a rich array of talent but one man will be getting all the attention on Saturday.

Attacking midfielder Dack joined Rovers for £750,000 in the summer from the Gills on a three-year-deal.

Dack has embraced playing on a bigger stage, becoming Blackburn’s main man this season.

He’s got 15 goals from midfield this season, netting last weekend in Rovers’ 3-0 win over Blackpool. He recently scored twice in their 3-0 win at Wimbledon.

Dack, a product of Gills’ youth set-up and the division’s player-of-the-year in 2016 after a great season at Priestfield, believes he is playing his best football of his career right now.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, he was asked if he is playing his best football of his career.

“I think so,” he said. “It’s been a really good season for me personally and it’s great playing in the team with top players.”

Aside from Dack, Blackburn also have striker Adam Armstrong, on loan from Newcastle, bang in form, scoring seven in as many games.

Fellow striker Danny Graham has amassed over £8m in transfer fees during his career while Dack’s midfield team-mate Jack Payne has already showed his class against the Gills this season for Oxford, scoring against them twice.

Man in the middle - Trevor Kettle;

The East Midlands official was last in charge of the Gills back in August at MK Dons.

Gillingham were struggling with a goal back then, losing the game 1-0, and the official was centre of attention.

Pennock didn’t agree with any of the big decisions made by the referee. He awarded MK a penalty, which keeper Tomas Holy saved, then handed the Gills a chance from the spot after another dubious decision. Josh Wright put it over the bar.

“He gave them a soft penalty and I thought he gave us a soft penalty,” said Pennock afterwards. He received a written apology from Mr Kettle after the match.

Pennock also felt a foul on Max Ehmer should have led to a penalty, which wasn’t given.

Assistants: Daniel Cook and Thomas Ramsey. Fourth official: Andrew Williams.

Fancy a flutter?

The Gills are priced at 7/2 with bookmakers William Hill to take the points on Saturday. It's 12/5 the draw and 3/4 for an away win.

Steve Lovell's men won't be sitting back and it's 2/1 for both teams to score.

Lee Martin scored twice at Portsmouth and he's 4/1 to score anytime. Bradley Dack has been scoring plenty of goals this season, he's 40/1 for a hat-trick.

Blackburn's in-form striker Adam Armstrong, with seven goals in seven, is 5/1 to open the scoring.