Gillingham have the weekend off after a request to bring forward their Boxing Day fixture at old rivals Swindon was rejected.

It was one of two fixtures Gills looked into the possibility of rearranging once they were knocked out of the FA Cup.

The other was the long midweek trip to Fleetwood in March but the Cod Army want to rest ahead of a Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie against Morecambe on Tuesday.

Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh said: "We tried a couple of clubs. We tried Fleetwood because we've got them on a Tuesday night later on in the season.

"We tried to bring that one forward but they're playing in the JPT.

"We tried Swindon to see if they'd bring the Boxing Day game forward but that was it.

"They were the only two that made any sense.

"We may have had a break over the Christmas period with the games we've got coming up and Fleetwood would have made sense to go up there on a Saturday and give our fans an opportunity to plan their journey, rather than trying to get up there on a Tuesday night.

"But it wasn't to be so we'll take the rest and use it wisely."