Gillingham boss John Coleman sees no reason his team should fear In-form visitors Bradford City.
The Bantams head to Priestfield with four straight wins in League 2 behind them, losing just once since Christmas as they’ve propelled themselves into the automatic promotion places.
In contrast, the Gills have only won one in 11 under Coleman, the solitary victory last weekend ending a run of 13 without success for the team. If form’s the guide for the game on Saturday then Bradford can expect another three points but that shouldn’t be the case says the Gillingham boss.
Coleman, whose side have shown signs of improvement, without picking up the wins, said: “We’ve got to go into that game believing we’re going to win. You’ve got more chance of winning when you do that than if you think, ‘I hope we can compete’.
“We’re Gillingham Football Club, playing at home, in front of a big crowd who will be very supportive and very keen for us to win. We’ve got to do the next step and win, basically.
“We’ll respect what they’ve got to offer. We know what they’ve got to offer is a lot. But if we get it right, we can offer a lot as well.
“I don’t want to just hope. Hope doesn’t come into the equation. We’ve got to raise our game. We’ve got to take it to the next level and the next level is winning games.
“You don’t want to be the plucky underdog who goes ‘put ‘em up, put ‘em up’ and gets knocked out. We don’t want to be that, we don’t want to be an underdog.
“There’s no reason why we should be fearing Bradford coming to Priestfield. No way on earth should that faze us in any way, shape or form.
“Gillingham are a big club. We’ve got to start acting like a big club on the pitch.”
Coleman’s first win as Gills boss came last weekend against Morecambe.
This would be a lot bigger.
“I think it would be massive for us,” he said.
“I think it would be massive for the fans as well. Any win, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. Any win takes a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of thought. We do plan well for it.
“We’ve got to implement the plan and execute the plan a little bit better.
“The players have got to take responsibility for their actions and their performances and the duty of care that they’ve got for the fans.
“(Bradford have) got into a groove where they’re comfortable in the style that they’re playing. They’ve got experienced players who know the league, who can compete in the league. That’s sometimes a recipe for success.
“They’ve got to keep it going if they’re going to get promoted automatically. I’ve said this from day one, we don’t fear anybody at home. We’ll be going all out to win.
“They’re always capable of coming to an end fantastic runs. Hopefully we’ll put an end to that on Saturday.”
