Gillingham boss Mark Bonner has explained why they chose to kick off their festive campaign on a Friday.
The Gills’ game at home to Cheltenham Town and Crewe’s match with Colchester are the only two League 2 games taking place tonight. Ten others have remained scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday).
Bonner accepts the switch won’t be popular with everyone but hopes the extra time off ahead of a Boxing Day game at Colchester and a match at Wimbledon on December 30 will serve them well.
He said: “We originally initiated the move to get this game on the Friday, to move it forward from the Saturday.
“The idea is to give ourselves a bit more of a run into the next game and then after Boxing Day our games have been changed because of TV, so our games have spread out a little bit. It’s changed the dynamic a little bit over Christmas.
“I understand why people don’t (like it), because people like Saturday games and you buy your season ticket to play on Saturdays and Sky move enough of your games, so I can absolutely understand it.
“There will be some that will hate the fact that the game’s on the Friday not the Saturday, I get that, but at the same time I have to do what I think is the very best thing for the team in this moment, so that that’s why we did it.
“We think it’s the best thing for us and then we have to hope it works for us.
“I always think under the light you can get a really good atmosphere, so I expect that to be the case, and I expect us to continue building on the level that we’ve been at in the last few weeks.
“Over the month I think we’re going to play on a Friday, a Thursday, a Sunday, a Saturday, I think days go out the window really, you just sort of work on how many days after a game it is, how many days before a game it is.
“It’s not quite as relaxed for us but certainly a very different schedule.”
It’s a period where the Gills manager knows there will be plenty of work to do – with little time to enjoy the festivities.
He said: “The truth is we’ll train all around (Christmas). There’s a lot of games to watch, our own games to assess. It’s very hard to not think about the next game and there won’t be much time off in that period.
“I had last Christmas off (while out of work) so I really did make the most of it last year, but this year it will just be spend some time with family, enjoy the little windows that we have got, but really it’s a great opportunity for us to come through this and put a marker down for what the season can look like.
“When I wasn’t in it last year I really missed it. You get a good atmosphere around the place and if you can get a good run of results and get into some good form you can transform your season a little bit – that’s what we’ve got to try and do.”
