Gillingham head to Crawley Town this weekend looking to extend their winning run to five games. Standing in their way will be a manager well known to Kent football fans – Scott Lindsey.

A friend of KSN, who himself performed the great escape last season to keep the Sussex side in the Football League after being appointed halfway through the season, the former Chatham Town boss will be in the dugout opposite Neil Harris this weekend.

We’ve been talking to Scott Lindsey about the League Two “Match of the Day” as third hosts the leaders and what an amazing few months he himself has enjoyed… 

“I know that my dad played for and was a legend at the Club (Gillingham) in the seventies (Keith Lindsey played at Priestfield from 1972 and 1975). I played for Club but wasn’t a legend in the nineties,” joked Lindsey, “but on Saturday, I’m totally focused on getting Crawley the win!” 

“As I still live in Medway, I’m pleased with what’s happened at Gillingham – Neil’s done a good job, the gates are up, they’re playing different football – but as I say, I’ve got my own job to concentrate on here at Crawley…” 

“As you can imagine, I’ve had a lot of requests for tickets for friends and family for the weekend and I hope that it’s a good day for everyone!” 

“Every game we play is a big game in the division because every point counts and every game is massive and it doesn’t make a jot of difference who it is – they’re all very important games for us as a football club.”

“It’s a game that we’re looking forward to; I know it’ll be a good atmosphere. Both teams have early momentum in the fact that we’ve picked up two wins and a draw – Gillingham are one hundred percent so far – and it’ll be an interesting game.” 

Lindsey took over at Crawley in January with the Club, like the Gills, precariously placed at the wrong end of League Two.

But like the Gills, Lindsey was able to steer the Sussex side to safety – he told us, “I kind of knew that it was going to be a job that I was going to have to roll my sleeves up and work extremely hard to keep us in the League; to tidy things up in the background, not just on the pitch, there was a load of stuff off the pitch that needed addressing!” 

“We’ve done that and we’re now a million miles from where we were in January and that’s down to very hard work and we’re a lot better now as a Football Club than when I first arrived, that’s for sure!” 

“I speak to the ownership group every day – they’re very hard working and they want nothing but success at the Football Club, that’s plain to see.”

“I’m hopeful that the relationship between them and the fans will get fixed one day, but I have to concentrate fully on the football, so I don’t get too over involved, but the infrastructure is certainly improved since I’ve be here.”

“We’ve some top class fans who have backed me every week, they travel away in good numbers and I think that they show real appreciation of what we’re trying to achieve, and I make sure that I show my appreciation to them after every game – I acknowledge them, they acknowledge me – they’re brilliant in supporting the team throughout games, as Tuesday night’s draw with a really strong MK Dons showed… I could still hear them singing going down the road after the game from my office – long may that continue!”