Gillingham will travel to Stoke City tonight to take on the Potters for a place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
The Gills progressed to the third round after wins against Southend United and Coventry City in the first two stages of the competition – the latter they defeated on penalties last week – and now have a free hit at Championship Stoke in a bid to win a fourth round tie at either Bristol City or Aston Villa.
Steve Evans’ men go into the game off the back of back-to-back wins and in good form, too. They picked up their first league win of the season on Saturday – 3-2 away to Wigan Athletic – to back up their victory over Coventry, and have won four of their five competitive games to date this campaign.
New signing Dominic Samuel could make his second debut for the club. The forward joined on a fee transfer on Monday after starring for the Gills on loan back in 2015/16, but it is unclear if he will travel with the rest of the team for the fixture.
Evans is likely to ring the changes, telling the club website: “We will make plenty of changes. I do not hide from the fact that Blackpool next Saturday is my priority.”
This means starts for the likes of John Akinde, Alex MacDonald, Robbie McKenzie and Matty Willock are likely, though only so many changes can be made, with Evans having just 18 fit first team players to choose from – Josh Eccles is cup tied after featuring in the competition previously for Coventry, including against Gillingham.
Stoke themselves are in indifferent form. They saw off Blackpool and Wolves to get to the third round, but have taken just one point from their opening two Championship fixtures after a draw at Millwall and, most recently, defeat to Bristol City.
Michael O’Neill’s side have kept three clean sheets from four games this season, but have found the net themselves just once.
The Potters’ team is likely to be similar to that that saw off Wolves, meaning starts for Nathan Collins, Lee Gregory and Harry Souttar are possible.
Fans will of course not be able to attend the game, but a match pass can be purchased via iFollow for £10.
Kick off is at 19:00 BST.
Image courtesy of Gillingham FC