Gills defender says it's satisfying to see plans come together on the pitch.
Ambitious centre-back Jack Tucker says the team are “fully focused” ahead of Tuesday night’s away Sky Bet League One clash with Fleetwood Town and they will be giving everything to make it three wins on the spin.
Local-lad Tucker, who netted his first professional league goal when he opened the scoring in Saturday’s impressive 3-1 victory over Ipswich, said he feels an extra responsibility that the club reach their potential this year, as many of his friends are Gillingham fans. Tucker, 21, joined the Gills at seven years of age and has worked his way through the ranks to become one of the first names of the teamsheet.
Ahead of the Fleetwood fixture, the Whitstable-born defender said: “Obviously being a local lad, some of my mates support Gillingham. It helps knowing that good friends of yours are giving you their full backing, both for the team and yourself. I have a responsibility to this football club and I want to give it 100 percent when I am on that pitch.
“I’ve spent a large amount of my life here at Gillingham and getting into the first team was a dream come true. When we are doing well and pushing forward it means a lot. We have high aspirations for ourselves because we know the quality we have.
“We have played well in our last two matches at Priestfield so that gives us a bit of momentum. I’m sure we will use our win against Ipswich as a platform to build on. We have another tough game against Fleetwood and that is where our full focus lies.”
The Cod Army, like the Gills, have enjoyed recent back-to-back wins and Simon Grayson’s men will be eager to make it four unbeaten on Tuesday evening. Tucker, however, says Gillingham are a team on a mission and will keep fighting for a play-off spot.
He said: “We feel more than confident but we have obviously given ourselves a mountain to climb. We have dropped points that we shouldn’t have done this season. We know that when we go out and perform with intensity then we can beat anyone because if you see Ipswich’s recent results they are a very good side, and we beat them comfortably. If we take it game by game then you never know where we can end up by the end of the season.
“Wherever we go, we know that the way we are playing, if we have that intensity from start to finish, then teams can’t live with us. We have a great spirit in the changing room and with the good players we know we have, we can push on for those play-offs.
“Consistency is what we have struggled with all season. We would pick up a good result and then we would drop a point in the next game; it’s tough when you can’t put those runs together like we did last season. We had a team meeting and it has helped because we are all buying into the same ideas. When plans come together it is very satisfying. All the time we are winning these games the sky is the limit. We know what we are capable of. As long as we keep doing our jobs all over the pitch then the results will take care of themselves.”