Gillingham face a team with an abundance of goal threats but head coach Stephen Clemence is confident his own team can be dangerous too.
A refreshed attacking department has given Clemence hope they can start entertaining fans with goals of their own. Gills’ slender total of 26 is in contrast to the 61 goals scored by Friday night hosts Notts County.
The addition of attackers Josh Walker and Jorge Hurtado, along with more precise deliver from wing-back Remeao Hutton, is hoped to give the Gills a better chance of hurting opposition teams. So far this season they’ve been reliant on a relatively solid defence to pick up the points and keep them in contention.
County have goals in abundance with their striker Macaulay Langstaff scoring 20 in the league so far – he hit over 40 last season on the way to promotion from the National League – while David McGoldrick and former Gills trialist Dan Crowley are both in double figures.
The team also like to knock the ball around, with more short passes and the least long balls than any other in League 2, while also topping the possession stats.
But despite their attacking qualities, a leaky defence leaves them wide open to the opposition, and that’s something the Gills will be looking to exploit on Friday night.
Clemence said: “They have obviously got some very good players, ones we will have to be aware of, but I think we have got them as well and we have to make sure when we have possession of the ball we take our game to them.
“If we perform as we have done in our last few away games then I think we can give them a very good game. Some of their players are very good and we’ll have to be switched on to stop them, we have a pretty mean defence as well.
“I know that since Christmas we are the top crossers in the league, we are just behind MK Dons and Notts County in highest xG (expected goals) and we are second best for xG conceded and we are doing okay ourselves.
“We have had a couple of results at home where we haven’t played well enough but we still didn’t get beat, we have taken 11 points from 18 and that is top-three form, there is plenty to be positive about going into the game and we need to make sure we take them on.
“Every game is a challenge but it will also be a challenge for Notts County playing us and if we bring our A-game we will be right in the game.
“Our away form recently had been very, very good. We’ve beaten Colchester and Accrington and I thought we should have beaten MK Dons as well. I have been really pleased with the away form lately. We will go to Notts County and look forward to taking them on.”
The Gills will train today (Thursday) and head north afterwards for an overnight stay, ahead of the match at Meadow Lane
Clemence said: On Friday we generally have meetings to go over, we will take the boys for a walk in the morning to stretch their legs, prepare like they normally do, they usually go to their beds in the afternoon in the hotel and get prepared for the game.
“I think it is the right thing to do, to go up the night before, rather than on the day because that is the best preparation. They are decent professionals, part and parcel of a professional footballer is spending a lot of time on coaches and in hotels but there are worse things to be doing and we are very lucky to be working in the industry we do.”
The Gills haven’t reported any fresh injury concerns with Dom Jefferies out long-term with a torn thigh and recent signing Josh Andrews gradually getting up to speed after a hip injury. He joined in with training this week.
