Gillingham face SKYBet League One’s goalscoring machine this weekend as they travel to the Kassam Stadium to face an Oxford United side who have netted double figures in the past week.

Boss Steve Evans conceded that, “Defensively it’ll be a test at the weekend as they’re very exciting going forward but hopefully we’ll be ready. We know we must start quickly to quieten their home support who are really, really supportive and they show it. But we’ll have good travelling support and we hope that our fans are in full voice as it means that we’re playing well.”

“I think we’ve come a long way already and people are starting to claim their shirt as a starting shirt. People are fighting to get in – when they get in as people have demonstrated in recent weeks. I think Mark Marshall’s performance when he came on at Bristol Rovers showed as opposed to when he played the previous week against Wycombe.”

“I think that people are starting to demonstrate that when they get the shirt, they want to keep a hold of it. But what we’ve tried to do in one transfer window, several managers have had seven or eight to try and do.”

“I think the word “frustrated” is a good one to use as to where we are in the table – we know where we will be, and we know where we can go to, but we also know where we should be. I thought we’d be higher after ten games (Saturday is the club’s tenth League game of the campaign) but I said it years ago and results really do follow performances not the other way around.”

“So, performances in the main all bar possibly 45 minutes away at Coventry, bar the Burton Albion game and part perhaps of the Tranmere game apart from that we’ve been very good in a lot of games and we are improving. But we need to do it quickly to get into that top half and get ourselves a good run before Christmas.”

After winning brilliantly at Lincoln on Saturday, Evans had the chance to see Oxford himself on Wednesday when they played West Ham in the League Cup – an opportunity that the Gills boss took.

He told us, “I went to the game on Wednesday and for twenty minutes I thought West Ham were going to cruise through, but Oxford got a goal and they were very impressive. Karl (Robinson) made seven changes from the great win at Lincoln last Saturday – West Ham I believe made nine – but the team looked like a typical Karl Robinson team; they got on the ball and played and worked really hard and it’s fair to say that they got four and it could have been more.”

“I think we’ll be facing more the Lincoln team to the West Ham team in fairness to Karl, I don’t think he ever hid that in the build-up to the West Ham game when he said he was going to make changes as Gillingham was his priority, and if you ask me to pick either of those two teams as home manager, I’d pick the team at Lincoln because I think they just had more about them.”

“I think that Lincoln have suffered a bit of a down scale and a little bit of inconsistencies in terms of individual performances since Danny Cowley left for Huddersfield and sometimes that happens. But I don’t think anyone saw or expected the manor they win six – I’ve watched all ninety minutes and it could have been more than six.”

“As much as Lincoln were poor, Oxford were very good, and it could have been much more – the Lincoln keeper made one or two great saves and there was some tremendous blocking too. It’s as impressive performance away to Lincoln that anyone will do that’s for sure.”

“It’s all about fine margins – if you look back at Ipswich; if Max Ehmer turns the ball into the net, I believe that we win the game and win it well. Paul Lambert would have had a different view.”

“I look up at Tranmere when we were 2-0 in front and Mikael Mandron is through on the keeper to make it three nil and I think if that goes in we win comfortably, and I remember Blackpool at home and we drew 2-2 but had five or six chances to be three or four nil.”

“So, I think it’s fine margins – you just have to continue to work hard and work a bit smarter to make those fine margins start going in our favour. Performances in the main we’ve dominated, not every game, but in a lot of the games we’ve played to dominate for long spells. And if we have a similar type of performance and as much of the ball as we had against Ipswich or against Bristol Rovers, then I’ll take what comes in front of us at the weekend.”

“We want to get that first away win – of course we do! But as I’ve said over the course of the season, it doesn’t matter where the wins come from, but we’d like to get a win on the road.”

“Evans was finally asked about his side for the weekend. “We’re probably only just missing Matty Willock – he had a clash knee on knee when we played Bolton and it’s left him with very deep bruising in the knee.”

“I’d probably put him another ten days away from being back in the picture – Paul (Raynor) went to Crawley to see their heroics in the Cup (against Stoke City) and the manager asked him how Matty was as he was their best player by a country mile at the end of last season, so we need players like Matty fit!”