Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth is predicting their Boxing Day showdown with old boss Neil Harris could be a great occasion.
Harris brings his in-form Cambridge United side to Priestfield for the festive League Two clash, sitting four points better off than the club who sacked him just over two years ago.
In October 2023, the Gills parted company with Harris as they looked “to go in a different direction.” They were eighth in League 2, one point off the automatic promotion places, when he departed.
Stephen Clemence and Mark Bonner – Cambridge United’s director of football – have both had time in charge of the Gills before Ainsworth’s stint started towards the end of last season.
A reset and a two-year plan, are part of the Ainsworth era, and the current boss knows the importance of beating Cambridge, to lift the mood after a tough run of form, which has seen the Gills drop to 12th in the table, five points off the play-off places.
Opponents Cambridge visit Priestfield without a loss in seven League 2 games. The Gills are chasing their first win in seven.
Ainsworth, speaking after their 2-1 loss at Fleetwood, said: “We’ve just got to make sure that we don’t get too down and we get ourselves up for Boxing Day because it’s going to be a great occasion, obviously, with Neil coming back with his Cambridge team.
“They’re very well organised. They’re going to be a tough ask, but I believe we can win at home.
“If we play like we did against Barrow in the first half, we can blow anyone away, but we’ve got to do it for 90 minutes.”
League 2 table;
The Gills were 2-0 up against Barrow in the opening half during their last home game – only to concede twice in the second half as the match ended 2-2, with the home players leaving the field to a chorus of boos.
Looking ahead to their Priestfield return, Ainsworth said: “They’re in good form at the moment, just like we were at the start of the season. Football is very streaky and at the moment, we’ve just got to get out of where we are, and I’ll make sure that the boys will be up for this game on Friday.
“We’ll look at the video. We’ll pick the points out that we need to pick out. There were a couple of players who were on the sidelines who probably will need to get games on and we want to get back to something like we were at the start of the season, where we looked formidable, but we’ve got quite a few injuries.
“For the fans that made the journey (to Fleetwood), all I can say is ’thank you’. I’m sure we’ll get over it with a win on Boxing Day.”
The Gills follow up their game against Cambridge with a quick turnaround as they host Colchester United on Monday, December 29.
Ainsworth’s made it clear what he expects from the team.
He said: “We’ve got two home games, must-win home games.
“I want to try and be competitive in both to win both games. Six points would make a huge difference to where we are.
“I’m trying my best to instil some confidence in these boys, and some forward-thinking play, some goal-scoring opportunities, and we keep working on it in training. That’s all we can do.
“Hopefully, we can turn Cambridge over and then Colchester in quick succession. I thought we did very well against Colchester (when they played out a recent 0-0 draw). We deserved something out of that game and with two wins, the (Fleetwood game) will be a distant memory.”
The Gills could drift away from the promotion chase if they don’t start picking up some wins soon and while Ainsworth is targeting a return to winning form, he also pointed out the longer-term view.
He said: “It’s early days. There’s a long-term plan here. We don’t want to get carried away too much with if we should be successful this season.
“I’ve still got a very similar squad than has been here for the last few years. I want to put my stamp on it as well.”
Ainsworth has already indicated he wants to add more leaders to his squad and that he’s targeting a goalscorer in what could be an important January transfer window.
