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Gillingham boss Steve Evans is looking forward to his team playing infront of fans again tonight even though none will be on their side.
The Gills are playing Cambridge United in the EFL Trophy at the Abbey Stadium where home fans have already returned. Crowds of just under 2,000 have watched the U’s in league action there last on Wednesday and again on Saturday.
Fewer fans are expected to be in attendance for the midweek Trophy match but it will be the first time the Gills have played infront of a crowd since March when 30,000 watched them claim a last-gasp point at Sunderland.
“It will be nice to have an atmosphere,” said Evans, who might know a few of them well.
“It is against us but it is great isn’t it?
“Some of my family are Cambridge fans, home and away, they love it. They support a great club. I don’t know if they will have their allocation. If they ask me for tickets they will get the normal answer, ‘no chance’, because they will just be going to give me a bit of stick!
“I live local and they were a rival when I was manager at Peterborough but I will go to their midweek games. I go to the Abbey and watch games and as a neutral when I watch games I want to see them win.
“We all know the Abbey is a tight little stadium and it will be great to have a crowd.”
Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium remains closed under tier three restrictions. A review of those tiers is set to take place next week. Eleven of the 24 clubs in League 1 are currently allowed up to 2,000 fans into their grounds under tier two restrictions, including London sides AFC Wimbledon and Charlton.
Saturday’s game against Swindon Town would have been one which Gills fans would have enjoyed, particularly Trae Coyle’s late second to seal the win.
“You can imagine the Rainham End when Trae put that in,” said Evans. “He would have been in there with them!
“We miss them. We are not the biggest club by any stretch but I can remember last season against Sunderland, (their former manager) Phil Parkinson said ‘what an atmosphere.’
“We are desperate to get the fans back but we have to allow this tier system to take its course through people behaving a little bit better than they have been, that is the other side, and let the government do their job.
“I hear them getting bashed by every quarter but nobody thought six weeks ago we would have a vaccine. Let’s start that process and back to having full attendances.”
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