Gillingham are hoping they feel the benefits of an enforced break this weekend.
The scheduled game at Walsall has been postponed due to international call ups for the West Midland side who are currently sitting second in League 2.
It gives the Gills extra time to prepare for next Saturday’s home game against Harrogate Town.
Bonner had the players in on Thursday and again today (Friday) to train but will be allowing them the weekend off.
He said: “Everyone’s got a weekend off which is awesome.
“It’s been a really, really tough spell for us, not just the number of games, but there’s been so many challenges thrown our way.
“It’s been tough for everybody and the pressure built a little bit over that time, so it’s quite a relaxing one to just be able to go and watch ‘Soccer Saturday’ or whatever you want to do with your weekend.
“Next week, we’ll have a full week going into Harrogate, so hopefully the break serves us well.
“I think everyone will enjoy when we leave the training ground on Friday not seeing each other for a couple of days, that’d be nice.”
Gillingham endured a nightmare October where they lost five games on the spin and had victory at Swindon snatched from them with a last-minute equaliser.
A better performance in the FA Cup against Blackpool was followed by a win over league leaders Port Vale and an encouraging display against League 1 Stevenage in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
It’s left the camp in a much better place heading into the free weekend.
Bonner said: “I think the Blackpool game was a really strong solid performance for us after the outcome of the Swindon game, which was a kick in the whatsits.
“At the same time, we took ourselves out of a run of defeats with that, so the games being a little bit more spread out and us getting a half decent performances and results probably just makes us feel good about ourselves for a little bit, which isn’t a bad thing.”
The Gills will soon have another free weekend coming up at the end of November as they aren’t in the FA Cup second round.
They’ll have 10 clear days between playing Harrogate and heading to Bromley’s Hayes Lane on Wednesday, December 4.
