Gillingham take a “welcome” break from their League Two struggles this weekend as Neil Harris takes his side to Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday tea-time for a place in the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup.

His squad are still reeling from the manager’s comments after the Gills lost to Newport County seven days ago.

Harris post-match used phrases in his summary along the lines of “I’m fed up watching the same old crap!” “We didn’t compete” and “I’m fed up with standing on the touchline watching the side make the same mistakes.”

Strong words which echo the thoughts on many Gills fans at the moment as the season of goodwill is about to descend on Priestfield.

At this week’s press briefing, KSN asked the manager about his comments after the defeat in South Wales. “Have I ever been anything other than honest since I’ve been at the Football Club?” he replied!

“Do the fans at this club deserve one hundred percent honesty? I don’t do social media and I don’t know what the reaction has been! All I’ve done since I came in is to try to help and guide.”

“Longevity here for me isn’t always the manager’s decision, but one thing I did do the moment I walked in – this fanbase has had it tough for a period of time and one thing I will never do is to pull the wool over their eyes – I want to be one hundred percent honest and if that doesn’t always go down in the correct manner with the fans or anyone in the building, then I’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

“I’ve been one hundred percent honest since I walked in! I think last Saturday I was just talking from the heart with honesty and just giving a reflection on where we actually are at the moment!”

“My reaction to that after reading my own quotes back was that I decided to come in Sunday morning at 6.30am and do something about it. And Tuesday I think the only thing that was missing from the performance was a goal, but the fans saw a much better performance, they saw better battling qualities and I’d like to think that that started from me bringing the players in on Sunday, missing my day off and my daughters playing football, because I felt it was the right thing to do.”

“I felt it was the right thing on Saturday night to be one hundred percent honest and the right thing to do Sunday morning. And the players responded excellently!”

“My comments were born out of frustration as I’m fed up with not winning games and I know that the fans echo that and for them to still back us the way they did on Tuesday as we haven’t had the most successful reign in charge as we haven’t won many games because of where we find ourselves as a Club at the moment, then that does mean a lot as it’s not easy every day.”

“But what drives me on is the fact that this Club does have a better horizon – hopefully coming soon and everyone deserves that, so let’s move forward – started on Sunday, went to Crawley and now onto Saturday as well!”

Looking ahead to the weekends FA Cup trip to Dagenham & Redbridge, Harris admitted to liking the ground saying, “there’s a good feel to the place, a good football feel and I like going there. The approach to the stadium is an old fashioned one – through the gap between some houses – but once you’re inside, the set-up is first class.”

“The game has massively changed now and we’re really looking forward to it.”

The kick off has been put back to 5:00pm on Saturday for televising “internationally” between World Cup ties involving France and Argentina.

“That’s who we’re between is it!” Harris exclaimed, “well let’s hope our game is as entertaining as their first two games against Australia and Saudi Arabia for the right reasons of course!”

“I know the FA Cup is a good traditional competition that is followed by a lot of people – will it be as popular during a World Cup? I’m not so sure, but it’ll generate a little bit of revenue for the Club!”

“I quite like the kick off time as it will mean that the floodlights will be on, and there’ll be a true Cup feel to the evening…”

The only confirmed absentee from Harris’ Cup squad is keeper Glenn Morris who the manager confirmed will be missing for at least six weeks after his recent shoulder injury.