Gillingham manager Mark Stimson aiming to beat Shrewsbury at the third attempt in Wembley final
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by Luke
Cawdell
Gillingham v
Shrewsbury
Gillingham manager Mark Stimson is
hoping it will be third time lucky when his side meet Shrewsbury at
Wembley on Saturday.
The Gills lost 7-0 at the ProStar
Stadium and conceded two late goals against the Shrews in a 2-2
draw at Priestfield.
Now Stimson is hoping his side can
deliver when it counts in the League 2 play-off final.
"We got bashed at their place and we
drew at home and now hopefully it’s our turn to win one," he
said.
"The only way we’re going to do that
is by preparing right, which we’ve done, and now we need to take
into Saturday what we’ve done for the last four to six games, a
real disciplined performance and also a big threat on the
break."
The Gills boss knows the game could be
tight and a win won’t be easy.
He said: "We’re not going there
playing an ordinary side, we’re facing a very good team, and we’re
aware of that.
"They are a decent side and they’ve
showed this season against us and also late on in the season, when
a lot of people though their chance had gone, they went to Dagenham
who were on a fantastic run and won there 2-1.
"We’re not getting away from the fact
that we face a good side but on our day we are a decent side as
well. I’m hoping it will be a good game of football and we come out
on top.
"On the break we look lively and a
threat and that’s the way we’re going to be attacking the game on
Saturday, with the pace we have up top with Andy Barcham, Simeon
Jackson and Dennis Oli. That will cause teams problems and we just
need to make sure that defensively we don’t concede and then take
the game to them when we have the ball.
"On the day, who plays their natural
game will come out the winners."
Stimson’s biggest task before
Saturday’s final will be selecting who from 17 fit players to leave
out of the 16-man squad.
With Adam Miller returning to the
squad, Stimson is likely to be making a decision between the pace
of Albert Jarrett and the experience of Nicky Southall.
And Stimson dropped a hint that
Southall, who was a Wembley winner with the Gills in 2000, could be
the one to miss out.
"That’s probably going to be the
hardest decision and it’s not a nice place to be left out," said
Stimson, who himself was dropped for a play-off final while playing
for Leyton Orient.
"They won’t take it well and I don’t
expect them to, but I have to make that decision and I want to go
to Wembley and win and the way I’ve looked at it, with all
different angles, the player I’m going to pick has got more of a
threat going forward."
Stimson is likely to start with the
same eleven that beat Rochdale in the play-off semi-finals.
They complete their training schedule
on Friday at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground.
"You try and do everything you can to
make sure that when Saturday comes around everything has been
covered," he said.
"If we can get a surface that’s as
close to Wembley and get a session on that then the players have no
excuses. Arsenal is the perfect one and it’s not too far from where
we’re staying as well, so it’s a good one for us."
Thursday, May 21 2009
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