Vadaine Oliver is a man on a mission this weekend as mighty Sunderland come to Kent to face a Gillingham side hoping that it won’t be a third consecutive two nil defeat.

A week ago, at Adams Park, the Gills were two down early on when Oliver blazed a penalty high over the bar as a golden chance to get back into the game was squandered. The big striker knew how important the miss was and after the game posted a public apology on social media – with an incredible response from the Gillingham fans.

“The response was unbelievable!” Oliver confessed. “I felt as though I needed to apologise as I’m confident enough to take them every week and it was a great chance for us to get back into the game had it gone in.”

“But I didn’t score this time and I just felt that bit of guilt which I guess is why I posted something. I didn’t go into social media on Sunday and when I did log back in on Monday… well I couldn’t believe some of the replies and it was really moving to read so many of the words from some of our truly amazing fans.”

At this week’s press briefing, the Gills front man was asked if he’d take the next spot kick and he admitted that he would. “It’s my duty for the team,” Oliver admitted. “I got under the kick last week too much – the whole thing was dragged out – but it showed me that I’ve just got to stay mentally stronger and then stay focused on things as I let my mind slip a little bit!”

“But I know that I’ve got to move on from it and I’ll be stepping up for the next one full of confidence.”

“It happens to the best players – you’ve seen Messi do it, you’ve seen Ronaldo do it – and so for me it’s just about staying confident and doing what I have to for the team.”

Looking ahead to the weekend’s game against Sunderland at Priestfield, the Gills top scorer said, “we had a good go against them last year, especially away. We know it will be tough when we go there again later in the season given the fans being back and it’s a great stadium.”

“We know that they’re going to be tough opposition this weekend – they are a good side, we know that! But so are we – yes, we’ve had a tough start to the season, but we’ve got the right players to cause them a problem or two!”

“They seem to have got a team that has really gelled well this year – a few players may not have heard of too much of and are really coming to the fore and doing really well. So, we’ll really have to be on top of our game to keep them quiet, but we know that we’ve got the players who can do that…”

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.