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Gillingham manager Steve Evans says his side will need to be on top of their game to avoid being on the end of a giant-killing at the weekend.
National League side Woking - with a history of some magical cup results behind them as a non-league side - are the visitors on Saturday for the FA Cup first round tie.
Evans knows what it’s like to be that non-league side causing an upset, from his time with Crawley, and will be doing his utmost to ensure the Gills come away unscathed.
“There will be a number of cup upsets and we have to make sure we are not one of them,” Evans said.
“We have done our homework on Woking, they have some really good players, they are probably a little inconsistent like ourselves in terms of performances and results but it is a big day for them. They are a good club, good people, but we have to make sure we are professional. If we go about our our business properly we should make progress.
“We need to be on our guard, we know that the boy Jarvis (the former Gills winger) could cause us problems and the boy Kane Ferdinand who we had a look at previously during his time at Southend, they are good players and we just need to make sure we are on top of our game.
“They are a club everyone has waited to break into the Football League, back in my early days Woking were the benchmark, they had a season-ticket to Wembley in the FA Trophy, who could forget their magical FA cup runs and going to Coventry (losing out in a third round replay). But we have history too and have a proud history and we want to make progress.”
Despite the potential pitfalls that the FA Cup could produce, Evans will still be resting some of his regulars, utilising the squad to give minutes to those who need it.
Evans said: “It is a magical competition and has given me some of my best days of my life, what I will remember forever, a cup run that ended at Old Trafford. We beat Championship Derby, Bristol City and Hull and a host of other clubs to get there, but the priority is League 1 and we will pick a team on the basis that we think it will be good enough to get through.”
Jack Bonham is back available for the Gills this weekend, having missed the last two matches with concussion. QPR loan keeper Joe Lumley impressed as back-up. Gills’ own young keeper Joe Walsh could be handed a start.
Gillingham have a number of midfield players who could do with minutes, including Coventry loan pair Declan Drysdale and Josh Eccles. Scott Robertson and Henry Woods could also feature, while defender Christian Maghoma has been an unused sub in the last two league matches and is in need of a run-out.
“We have to protect our group,” Evans said.
“It is a very small group and we have been carrying a number of niggles for a while now and so we will make changes we deem appropriate.
“You can never devalue the FA Cup, it is a magical competition, but we have to make changes.
”We have to work as hard as the opposition, they will work to the maximum, and if it comes down to sheer ability we should take care of it, if we dont we will get beaten and we don’t want to be a statistic come 5pm."
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