After scoring in Gillingham’s first two games of the season, Robbie McKenzie has been talking to KSN ahead of the club’s opening home League game of the season this weekend against Accrington Stanley.

“I’ve just found myself in the right place at the right time at the minute and hopefully that will continue,” McKenzie told us, adding, “hopefully I’ll be able to add a few more goals too. I do like to get forward, but my main job is to be a defender and so when I can chip in with goals it’s nice.” 

“Tuesday was a great team performance and overall I thought we deserved to win by more than we did, and it was disappointing to concede like that towards the end!”

“It was a really positive night and now we can look forward to Luton in the next round! It’ll be a great day for everyone again, but we’ll focus on that when we get there – we’ve got League games between now and then and we’ll take each game as it comes!” 

“The atmosphere throughout the game was amazing, and I hope that will be the same all the way through the season as it really did spur us on.”

“Having been left out of the starting side at Stockport, I let it sink in and knew that if I get on the pitch, your job is to affect the game, and luckily, I scored the winner and we got the three points – as long as I’m on the pitch, I’m happy!” 

“There was excitement amongst the team after Tuesday, but a soon as we were back in training Thursday, our focus is one hundred percent Accrington.”

“Their teams are always tricky – a big strong physical team. We’ll get our game plans together and hopefully get it right on Saturday. John Coleman teams are always pretty similar teams, so we’ll know what to expect.” 

“We’ve got a very strong squad for the League – the togetherness in the changing room is top notch. You can see it on the pitch and even with the fans – everyone in the Club has got a full togetherness and it’s a good place to be at the minute.”

“It really does feel like we’re gathering momentum and hopefully we’ll be able to carry that forward!”

“I feel like everyone knows each other in the team now, everyone knows what we’re capable of as a group, so I feel like going forward we really can push it up there.” 

“The quality of this squad spurs you on even more as you want to be in the starting eleven so everyone will be pushing in training and in games.”

“It’s only got to be better for the team… You do try to pass things on here and there to those who haven’t been here as long as I have, but there is a lot of experience in the dressing room from playing higher, so we all try to learn off each other as we go along.” 

It’s been announced that the Rainham End has sold out for the game, and that’s not lost on McKenzie. “The fans have been excellent,” he said, “seeing how many followed us to Como was amazing, so hopefully we can all carry that into the League games and really make it a great atmosphere here at Priestfield.” 

We quizzed the “top scorer” about a goal target; grinning he told us, “I always have targets in mind for the season, but they’re my personal targets, so I’ll keep them to myself!”