With Gillingham looking for their first win since the end of September, Mark Bonner’s side have the ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways this weekend as League Two leaders Port Vale come to Priestfield. 

It will though be a massive test for the Gills who are struggling of late having lost six of their last seven including last weekend’s FA Cup exit at the hands of Blackpool, though the manager was in good spirits when he spoke to KSN this week.

“I am expecting the weekend to be a really good game and one to get excited about! Over the first third of the season, we seem to have played a lot of sides who have been top, so we have had a lot of those challenges – we have coped with them really well in a number of ways and I think to have this as first game back after a two week break from League football, is a good one.”

“To be at home is a good thing and whilst you cannot detach yourself from the overall run that we are on, but actually if you go back to our last League game at Swindon where we took a point to end a run of straight League defeats…” 

“We are not patting ourselves on the back for exiting the Cup last week because we really wanted to get through. I think we played really well against Blackpool and so we go into this week in the mindset that it is a great time to be playing League football with a really good opponent, to play against who were a League One team last year who have a lot of players from good levels and have added very well in the summer to that squad.” 

Port Vale arrive in Kent – unbeaten in ten after winning their last five; “The run of form speaks for itself,” Bonner said. “They have an experienced manager in Darren Moore and his staff, they have experienced players and they are in a really good vein of form.” 

“But those runs only ever go on for so long – they will be trying to maintain theirs obviously and we will be trying to get a “W” on the board as soon as possible, and it is a great challenge to try and do it at the weekend.” 

“Saturday will be two League Two sides playing against each other who are decent sides as the difference between the top and the bottom of this League is not that big.”

“They are a good side, but are along the lines of many others and we will, I hope, play bigger games this year.”

“What we face Saturday is a team in really good form and have really good players, but when we are at our best, we are really good with really good players too, so that’s the thing, you can make a game seem as big as you want… yes, we need a result, but we cannot play desperate – we need to play with a bit of confidence; we need to show an aggression in the way that we go after them; we need to make it a hard day for them and we will do that by doing the things that we do well, and the things that we target to try and do well in this game!”

“I really like how everyone has trained this week – there has been a real focus about the players, a nice edge about them, good competition in the training sessions and the group is getting stronger and bigger to choose from every week, and in the next few weeks, we will see a nice transformation on who is available, which is good.” 

“I hope that the good stuff from last weekend can carry into Saturday, even though the game will be different, and the things that we do best at, we do well!” 

Bonner confirmed that Ethan Coleman has trained all week and is available for the weekend and everyone else from last weekend are also available although the manager wouldn’t be drawn over the keeper’s position with Jake Turner and Glenn Morris fit and available.

News from the longer-term injuries is improving – Robbie McKenzie had had an injection in his knee injury and the manager is hoping to see him on the grass next week and be in training for the week of the Harrogate home game.

Bradley Dack is going to St Georges Park next week for a week of intensive work as he bids to get his fitness levels and Bonner is hoping that Aaron Rowe and Elliott Nevitt will be back in training next week too. 

After the weekend, the Gills travel to Stevenage with a place in the next round of the Bristol Street Motors still up for grabs if Gillingham can win, whilst their next scheduled League game – away to Walsall on November 16th has been postponed due to international call ups.