More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Team news;
Bradley Stevenson will make his first Football League start for the Gills at Doncaster.
He has been picked to fill the void left by Dean Parrett, following his injury last week.
Captain Gabriel Zakuani remains in the starting XI, despite limping off last weekend.
Striker Josh Parker, meanwhile, comes back in following international duty, replacing Elliott List upfront.
Gillingham: Holy, O'Neill, Fuller, Ehmer, Zakuani, Lacey, Byrne, Reilly, Stevenson, Parker, Eaves.
Subs: Hadler, Garmston, List, Bingham, Nasseri, Rees, Ogilvie.
Preview;
Gills manager Steve Lovell has described the next few games for the club as massive.
With just one win in 10, league form needs improving and he believes there are winnable games on the horizon.
Doncaster is one of those games he feels the Gills can take something from, even though the home side sit fourth in League 1.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: "The next four or five games now are massive for us, massive for me and massive the club, to where we are going to go this season.”
“The games that we have got coming up are all now winnable for us even the one on Saturday."
Head to head;
Gills wins: 32 Draws: 17 Defeats: 12
League form;
Gillingham (LWDLLL): Southend (h) 0-2, Portsmouth (a) 2-0, Shrewsbury (a) 2-2, Peterborough (h) 2-4, Rochdale (a) 0-3, Wimbledon (h) 0-1.
Doncaster (WLLWWW): Rochdale (a) 3-2, Fleetwood (h) 0-4, Accrington (a) 0-1, Plymouth (a) 3-2, Bradford (h) 2-1, Walsall (a) 4-1.
Last meeting at the Keepmoat;
Doncaster Rovers 0 Gillingham 0
An impressive performance from Czech keeper Tomas Holy ensured the Gills came away from Doncaster with a point on the opening day of the previous campaign.
He made several point-blank saves to deny the home side from scoring.
Gillingham had their chances too, the best of these in the first half, but the game at the Keepmoat Stadium finished goalless.
Home midfielder Ben Whiteman struck the woodwork with one effort and had another cleared off the line, as Doncaster somehow finished without a goal, having had 16 shots to Gillingham's five on the day.
Last time out for Gills;
Gillingham 0 Southend United 2
Hopes were high that the Gills would claim maximum points on their newly laid pitch, but it wasn't to be.
Despite an encouraging first half some slack defending at the start of the second cost them dear, with visiting striker Simon Cox making them pay.
He scored a quickfire double to leave the Gills chasing the game.
The Gills had chances but were unable to finish, making it now five home games without a win, losing their last three.
Team news;
Gills captain Gabriel Zakuani "should be okay" to make the trip this weekend, according to manager Steve Lovell.
Lovell was updating the injury situation to the press during his weekly briefing on Thursday afternoon.
Dean Parrett is a definite non-starter, having also left the field early in the defeat to Southend. Parrett has an ankle injury but scans have ruled out any broken bones.
Billy Bingham has trained and could travel but Regan Charles-Cook is now expected to miss out again. He could be back for the midweek trip to Plymouth.
Josh Parker is back from international duty and pushing for a return to the starting XI.
One to watch - John Marquis;
Doncaster's leading scorer needs little introduction to Gills fans.
John Marquis found his goalscoring form at Gillingham, during a loan spell from Millwall, while Steve Lovell was part of the caretaker management team.
HE has nine for the season at Donny.
Lovell said: "John has done very well for himself. He scored goals for us when he was here but before that he wasn't really known as a goalscorer and Millwall looking to get rid of him. He scored a few with us when we took over first time and Millwall took him back because they could see his value.
"He is a good player and he works hard, he is like Tom Eaves in that respect. They have both got a few goals this year and that will be a good battle between those two on Saturday I think."
Man in the middle - Graham Salisbury;
Games: 10 Yellows: 32 Reds: 2
Lancashire referee Graham Salisbury regularly pulled out his red card last season, with 13 dismissals in his 37 games.
Former Gills skipper Lee Martin was one of those, seeing red in Gills' 4-0 defeat at Southend.
He's only sent off two players this season, from his 10 games, and none in his last five, which means there could be one due soon.
Assistants: Barry Gordon and Duncan Street, Fourth Official: Lisa Rashid
Fancy a punt?
The bookies don't fancy Gills' chances on Saturday, with BoyleSports pricing them at 4/1. The hosts are 8/11 to win and it's 13/5 for the draw.
Manager Steve Lovell is predicting an open games and both teams have been prone to conceding goals. It's 3/4 for both to score.
Last season both games finished goallless and it's 9/1 for it to end 0-0 again.
What do you think?
