Gillingham make the long trip to the north east this weekend with manager Neil Harris knowing his side face a tough test against Sunderland.

The Gills have had an incredible second half of the season for their standards, with new boss Neil Harris recouping momentum back into a side who looked destined for relegation.

After being down in the dumps, they now find themselves in 19th place of the League One table and four points clear of the relegation zone.

Gillingham are still in a relegation battle, but there’s no doubt Harris’ side are in a much better position compared to where they were at the start of the year.

They face a Sunderland side in great form, sitting in 7th place of the table and only two points behind a play-off spot. The Black Cats also appointed a new manager this year – Alex Neil replacing the sacked Lee Johnson, and the former Preston North End manager hasn’t done much wrong since arriving.

It’s a game between two sides battling for different reasons at the other end of the table, and Harris is looking forward to be managing his side at the Stadium of Light, mentioning that Sunderland are a ‘huge football club under huge pressure’.

“The Stadium of Light is a great place to play our football, probably in front of a crowd of around 30,000, a great atmosphere, huge football club that are under huge pressure to go up in the play-offs and get promoted this year,” he said.

“They have an array of talent, very good players, can play various systems under Alex Neil, who is a vastly experienced manager and we know it is a very tough ask but it is a great one for us, with the form we are in and the confidence and belief that we have in the group.”

Harris is hoping the momentum Gillingham have found in recent weeks can be carried on this weekend:

“Sometimes players feed off the personality of the manager. I am quite a passionate person. When you get a bit of momentum, the lads feed off that too.”

“We have achieved nothing yet. Of course there is pressure on us because we want to get further ahead of the bottom four. There is no fear in my changing room at the moment.”

“We are comfortable at Priestfield or on the road. More and more fans are starting to travel. Saturday is a game I’m looking forward to. I don’t think we will be adding to the group this weekend & we might not be as strong as we were last weekend unfortunately.”

Meanwhile, Harris spoke of bringing Nicky Shorey into the club as Head of Recruitment:

“Nicky is in. His career speaks for itself, he worked for me briefly at Millwall and has a fantastic reputation, and an eye for a player. It’s a building block as part of the structure.”

“Nicky is working already behind the scenes, you won’t see too much of him as he’ll be out watching other teams!”

Looking at the remaining fixtures, it’ll be difficult for Gillingham.

Harris’ side still need to play Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wycombe Wanderers and Rotherham United before the end of the season, meaning they will need to rely on the teams below them to slip up.

They do play Fleetwood Town however, who sit a place below them – a big chance to crawl away from the drop zone.

It will be a nervy month, but there’s no doubt Harris and his squad will have the confidence to stay up in the third tier.

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.