We look ahead to Saturday's Sky Bet League One clash between Gillingham and Crewe Alexandra at MEMS Priestfield Stadium
GILLINGHAM V CREWESky Bet League One
MEMS Priestfield Stadium
Saturday August 30
Kick-Off, 3pm
Team News:
Peter Taylor has said that Joe Martin (thigh) could play some part in Saturday’s game; however Amine Linganzi (hamstring) is still a week away from being able to train.
Doug Loft (Achilles) remains a doubt while Josh Pritchard seems to have shrugged off a slight groin strain.
As for Crewe, George Ray could feature despite a head injury.
The defender required stitches under his eye after a knock during the Capital One Cup extra-time defeat to Bolton in midweek, but this may be left until the last minute.
On-loan midfielder Jamie Ness (hamstring) is definitely out and has returned to parent club Stoke for treatment on an injury he sustained last weekend.
Harry Davis (knee), Ryan Colclough (hernia) and Thierry Audel (shoulder) all remain absent.
Manager Comments:
Peter Taylor says the fact Crewe are bottom of the league as things stand will have no bearing on how he prepares his team for the game, and doesn’t consider it a big factor in lead up to the match.
He said: “All we ever do is prepare a team to try and win the match, we don’t prepare a team even more if a team is struggling or doing fantastic.
“Until Barnsley I was quite happy with our start but after they scored was very disappointing for us and it’s something we need to improve on.
“I’m very confident we have a decent squad here and eventually put a run of games together and do well.”
Steve Davis said: “We scored twice against Bolton, created chances and hit the crossbar twice, so our attacking play was good. Now we have to get that balance right and cut those errors out.”
Previous Meetings:
The last time the two clubs met was earlier this year at MEMS Priestfield Stadium as both clubs looked for three points to boost their chances of League One survival.
Crewe prevailed with all three points following a 3-1 win – Chuks Aneke (2) and Matias Pogba getting on the score sheet with Amine Linganzi bagging what proved to be a consolation.
In total the clubs have met on 45 occasions – of those the Gills have won 16, Crewe have 21 victories and the other eight games have resulted in a draw.
Betting:
Sky Bet, the League’s title sponsor, are offering odds of 23/20 for a home victory. Crewe are 9/4, while a draw is priced at 12/5.
For more odds across a variety of markets, click here.
Officials:
Referee – Andrew Madley
Assistants – Andrew Fox and John O’Brien
Fourth Official – Andy D’Urso