Gillingham first-team coach Nicky Southall writes exclusively for the KM Group
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The FA Cup is what dreams are made of and hopefully we
can cause an upset against Stoke.
We know it won’t be easy, but what game is?
The manager and I have been in a few upsets before with the
Gills – in this round especially – and know they are great
games.
We just need to make sure we enjoy the day whatever happens on
Saturday. It’s a nice occasion for everyone.
It’s a break from the league but we know that’s our priority –
to get out of this league and get into the one above where we
believe we deserve to be.
We head into the game off the back of a win over Aldershot,
which was a timely boost after losing at Dagenham.
That was a disappointment for us but we bounced back well.
It wasn’t a fantastic game against Aldershot but we got the
three points.
It was tough after going down to 10 men for the final 30 minutes
and it was a bit harsh on Joe Martin.
His first booking was after about 45 seconds and you think the
referee might have just given him a warning.
Unfortunately, he now misses the Stoke game and we will have to
have a look to see who replaces him.
The fans were a credit to us over the Christmas period and they
made those away games at Crawley and Dagenham feel like home
ones.
We have a great match for them to look forward to now against a
Premier League team.
The appointment of Mark Halsey to referee the game against
Stoke adds a bit of extra spice to the occasion.
Gillingham fans will no doubt remember how he found an extra
five minutes at the end of the 1999 play-off game against
Manchester City, in which time they equalised and went on to win
the penalty shoot-out.
Not long after that final, when I got transferred to Bolton, I
met Mark again and got on well with him. The referees were being
brought in to train at clubs to keep their fitness up.
He lived near Bolton and so came in and did his training with
us.
I didn’t realise he was a goalkeeper so I took my revenge by
drilling shots past him left, right and centre.
I did give him some stick about the five minutes of injury time
in that game and he said it should have been six!
He is back in the game and back to full health now after getting
over cancer and that’s great news.
Whatever happened at Wembley is in the past and his health is
more important. I wish him all the best with his recovery.
Thursday, January 05 2012
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