Gareth Ainsworth is looking forward to Saturday's game at Crewe with both sides battling to progress up the League Two table.
Saturday's fixture is the first of two tough away games for the Gills, and Ainsworth is hoping to instil a belief in his squad that his side can go into both games and win. However, he is keen to reiterate that there is still a long way to go in the campaign, knowing that the reaction to any setback will be crucial.
The Gills boss provided team news ahead of the game, including positive updates on the availability of Marcus Wyllie and Lenni Cirino. Ainsworth also touched upon the return to the training ground this week and how that has had a positive impact in terms of preparation for the weekend.
Back-to-back fixtures against teams in the chasing pack...
Both teams probably have similar ambitions. We are both looking to see how far we can progress, and we have got the play-offs just above us. We are slightly further away than Crewe, but I think that they have played a couple of more games than us, so we have got to make sure that we go up there with a belief that we can win the game. We want to get as close as we can to those play-offs.
We have a tough couple of games coming up, with Crewe and Chesterfield away from home. They have the same ambitions as us. They want to get into these play-offs and to try and progress out of League Two.
They're [Crewe] are a very good side with an identity that is well played by their manager. We have got to make sure that we believe that we can win and take something away from there.
There is a long way to go. I said to the boys this morning, and I will say to everybody that is watching and listening, we aren't going to win every game. I have said this all along. There will be hiccups, and there will be defeats, and it is how we react to them. We go into every game believing that we can beat the team in front of us.
Team News...
Conor [Masterson] and Nelson [Khumbeni] are both still missing. Nelson was spotted down the training ground, which is great, so he was on the grass today, and that is brilliant. Conor is just a little bit further away. Everyone else is back. Marcus [Wyllie] is back, and Lenni [Cirino] is back.
We had a really good behind closed doors run out on Tuesday, which is great. Everyone is looking to get into this team now and looking to get into this squad.
Returning to the training ground...
We have been on twice, which is great. We have seen a deluge of rain coming down, and I have to say to our groundsman, thank you. He works his socks off, and sometimes you cannot go against Mother Nature and try to turn that around. Being back on the grass has been great.
As I said earlier in the month, thank you to the people who have helped us facilitate training, because you have been a lifesaver, but being back on the grass was great this week.
It is brilliant to see the group come together again. We have been a bit disjointed with injuries and things, and to have the full group back again and being able to work on a full pitch and maybe having a session going on with a defensive phase, then some finishing over there, and somebody else doing personal work that they need. Whereas on the astro, it was that we were all on there together, and we can only do one thing really.
It is really good, and if it gets us the result on Saturday, then even better!
