Seb Palmer-Houlden is glad to be back fully fit and in and around the team as Gillingham prepare to take on Fleetwood Town at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Saturday.
The 22-year-old is anticipating another tough League Two fixture, and knows that the Gills will have to be at their best if they are to take all three points from the game.
Following Robbie McKenzie’s stoppage-time winner at Barrow, Palmer-Houlden believes that the feel-good from that moment has raised the spirits within the camp throughout the week.
The forward led the line with Ronan Hale in Cumbria, but is happy to partner any of the forwards.
On Saturday’s game…
It’s a tough league. Every team is hard to play, so we aren’t expecting them to be easy. The way that we set up and the way that we train, we are going to give it our all, and hopefully, we get the result.
I think that they will be a well-organised side. They will be tough to break down, but I think that they are there for the taking, like every team is in this league. It’s a weird league. Everyone can beat everyone, but we have to be at our best, especially back at home. I think that it will be good to get a result in front of the punters, especially after two weeks ago, which wasn’t great. Let’s see if we can put that right.
The impact of scoring a late stoppage time winner…
The spirit is amazing. You go into that dressing room, and football is mad. There are two sides of the coin. I think that we have been on the wrong end of those goals at certain points because it’s a scrappy goal. It’s a second phase of a corner, and it’s a brilliant finish by Robbie [McKenzie]. It’s not a goal that you’d like to lose to, and I think that we have been on the end of a few of them this year, and it’s like a mood dampener in the changing room.
When it actually goes in your favour, it lifts everyone up, and it makes the six-hour journey home all worth it. I think that everyone is in better spirits, and it comes into this week as well. Everyone is happy, obviously, the sun is back out as well, so that gives everyone a smile on their face.
It’s a real mood lifter.
Playing with different strike partners and his season so far…
I like playing with whoever is up front with me. Obviously, I played against Ronan [Hale] last year, and I knew how much of a good player that he was coming in. If it’s with him, Josh [Andrews] or Vokesy [Sam Vokes], then I am happy with whatever.
It’s a really good group of lads, and everyone gets around each other. The season has not necessarily gone the way that I have wanted it to go. I think that I have struggled a lot with injury. I didn’t know how much it actually affected me in the long-term, but I feel like I am getting back to my full self, and I am enjoying the football. That’s the only thing that you can ask for.
