Gillingham will get their 2020/21 season underway on Saturday when they take on Southend United at Priestfield Stadium.
The Gills haven’t played a competitive game for 182 days, since they drew with Sunderland back on March 7, but they are back in competitive action as they welcome recently relegated Southend to ME7.
Whilst the Gills finished 10th in League One last year, Southend finished second bottom and will now ply their trade in League Two, at least in the immediate future. But it is a new season, the Shrimpers have a new manager in the form of Mark Molesley, and anything can happen.
Out-of-contract Brandon Hanlan cannot feature for Gillingham on Saturday after rejecting the latest contract offered to him by the club. Manager Steve Evans has not given up hope of Hanlan staying, but he will not be involved at the weekend.
With more new bodies wanted and expected through the door at Gillingham soon, Evans has just 18 players to choose from for the game. Christian Maghoma should receive international clearance to play in time, and Jordan Graham has a slight groin issue but should still be involved.
Southend themselves have a mini injury crisis. Nathan Ralph (shoulder) and Tom Clifford (thigh) are both ruled out, with Timothee Dieng (calf), Harry Lennon (calf) and Jason Demetriou (knee) all struggling.
Forward Stephen Humphrys and defender Harry Kyprianou are available for selection after illness and injury respectively, though it has been reported recently that Humpreys has handed in a transfer request at the club, potentially paving the way for young forward Charlie Kelman to feature.
The Gills did the double over their Essex rivals in the league last season, defeating them 3-1 at Priestfield in October before coming out of Roots Hall with a 1-0 win towards the back end of the campaign. Manager Steve Evans will be able to take confidence from that, but will still want to respect the Shrimpers.
The game is of course behind closed doors, with a live stream available to purchase on iFollow for £10. A place in the second round of the cup is at stake, so expect a hard-fought game.