Gillingham will head to Rochdale this weekend with the aim of improving their away form.
The Gills sit just six points off the play-off spots in League One and are on a run of eight league games unbeaten, but have just one win on the road this campaign. Seven home wins and being hard to beat – seven of their away games have resulted in draws – have helped Gillingham, but turning away draws into wins will be high up on manager Steve Evans’ list of ways to booster the club’s season.
The man that may be able to help that happen is new signing John Akinde. The forward, 30, joined on Friday for an undisclosed fee and goes straight into the squad for the game. He is expected to start on the bench, but should help Gillingham’s goalscoring problems significantly.
One player Gillingham will be without this weekend is midfielder Tom O’Connor. The Southampton loanee strained a hamstring in training in the week and will be out of action for the foreseeable future; candidates to replace him include Ben Pringle and Matty Willock.
Winger Mark Marshall also won’t be available for selection after the Gills confirmed he will depart the club after the game upon the expiry of his contract. The Jamaican made 23 appearances for the Gills but won’t be having his stay extended after signing a short-term deal in the summer.
Apart from that, Mark Byrne is the only long-term absentee for the Gills. Steve Evans has a strong squad to choose from, and he will want to get the three points to move closer to the top six.
Gillingham have lost their last three games at Spotland, and had a tough visit last season when they lost 3-0 thanks to Ian Henderson’s first career hat-trick. They are winless there in seven visits dating back to May 2009 – but those sort of records are there to be broken.
Gillingham got the better of their opponents in the return fixture back in December when Connor Ogilvie popped up with a late winner in a 1-0 victory at Priestfield. The Blues dominated the game and should have won by more, but playing away from home is an entirely different prospect.
“Rochdale play fabulous football” were the words of Gills assistant manager Paul Raynor on Thursday.
Manager Brian Barry-Murphy has been in the role permanently for 10 months, now, and tries to play a possession-based game. He has had varied success, so far – he led Dale to survival last year, but they sit 18th in League One at the moment.
It will be a tight game, but, if all goes to plan, Gillingham should get the job done. Akinde may be the star attraction for the visiting fans on the day, but a strong team performance is what Steve Evans will be after.