If ever there was a game needed to be won, it’s on Saturday as relegation threatened Gillingham head to Morecambe who sit just one place above them in the league.

Neil Harris’ rejuvenated side head north with a real sense of optimism having beaten Crewe Alexandra and Cambridge United in the opening three games of the new manager’s tenure.

With relegation still seemingly likely for a Gillingham side that under performed under Steve Evans at the start of the season, a win at Morecambe and all of a sudden, there will be a real belief that the great escape is on. Lose, and the writing may be on the wall.

Harris will have to assess who will be available for the must win game with Danny Lloyd and Alex MacDonald out for the remainder of the season, whilst it has been confirmed by the manager that Dan Adshead’s loan spell is over and he’s returned to Norwich City having sustained a foot injury.

This weekend will come too soon for both Ben Reeves and Mustapha Carayol, so Harris is expected to name the side that started against Cambridge United on Tuesday night.

Steve Robinson’s Morecambe side have only managed one win in their last seven matches, and that run was continued on Tuesday when they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Lincoln City.

Toumani Diagouraga managed to pull a goal back for Morecambe early in the second half, but the damage had already been done in that game as Lincoln went into the break 2-0 to the good.

Continuing to lose those sort of matches will leave Morecambe in a difficult situation, as the three points that went to Lincoln in midweek allowed them to go five points clear of the Shrimps.

Another game against a team around them in the table means that Saturday is a must-win encounter for both sides, but Morecambe have the added incentive of potentially climbing out of the drop zone with three points.

Robinson’s side have been a lot stronger at home than they have been on their travels this season, while Gillingham have struggled on the road, suggesting that the hosts are favourites this weekend.

If ever there were a game that could be described as a six pointer, this is it.

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.