Gillingham haven’t won at Barnsley in 50 years but captain Gabriel Zakuani believes they have all the tools to succeed this time around.

Unbeaten Barnsley aren’t short of talent, with Kieffer Moore scoring four in his last two games and new signing Cauley Woodrow ready to show what he can do upfront, after arriving from Fulham.

But it’s what Gillingham can offer that Zakuani is focussing on.

He said: “They are one of the teams that came down so you would expect them to be in and around it, I think they have kept most of their squad and added a few, they will be tough but we will be positive going up there, not fearing anything and impose our game on them.

“I know Kieffer Moore and played against him a few times, he is someone we need to watch, I am sure the gaffer will tell us who else to look at for. I know their strengths and what to combat but we try and focus more on ourselves rather than worry about the opposition. If we implement our game they will have to worry about us more.

“A lot of teams don’t know too much about us and that works in our favour, we have got a lot of new boys who have legs and cause all sorts of problems.”

That pace caused Sunderland problems a week ago. The Gills lost 4-1 but had numerous chances in the match.

“When you have pace, there is no answer to it sometimes,” said the experienced defender.

“We have players like Elliott List who showed what he can do last Saturday and we have Brandon and Regan, there are legs everywhere and it helps when you have it on your team.

“Teams now see that if you have pace in attacking areas you can hurt the opposition, I am seeing it a lot more but I don’t know if that’s just me getting a lot older! Teams know if you have at least one player with pace it does cause problems.

“We have got a lot for Barnsley to think about and a lot of teams will try and combat what we have got, it is hard though when you have so many different players with pace.”

While Gills’ attacking play has been fun to watch from the sidelines, they have been too open, allowing opposition teams to counter. It’s something the team have been working to fix.

Zakuani said: “I am really enjoying how we are playing, we just need to tighten up as a team. That is what we are working on. It is a bit open and we need to work on our team shape a bit.

“It is hard, we have a lot of legs in the team, they want to get forward, they are very enthusiastic but as a team we need to know when to sit off a little bit and when to catch teams on the counter, because at the it is like a game of basketball at the moment.”

Zakuani isn’t short of running himself, clocking up over 10km in each of the last two matches.

“It’s a lot of mileage,” he said. “I feel very fit and I just want to keep a good routine going and play as long and injury free as possible.”

It’s Zakuani’s first season captaining the Gills, something he has done before elsewhere, and he’s enjoying the role.

“They are an easy group of lads to deal with,” he said.

“The senior players need to take control of the dressing room, it keeps everyone in check and I am one of those players. I am enjoying the role of being the bridge between the staff and the players. If they have concerns they will tell me and I will go and deal with it.

“I have got kids at home, my oldest is 10, and it’s pretty much the same!

“They are a good group, pretty easy to manage, and everyone is willing to learn, I wouldn’t say there is one bad egg, everyone is on same page but there are still fines! We’ll be going to Dubai for Christmas at this stage!

“I am nice to the players but the fines have to be paid. Noel Mbo has improved this year but a few of the young lads, like Leroy Hlabi, he is not getting the hang of it and Brandon Hanlan is quite a bad one as well!”