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Match preview: Gillingham v Fleetwood Town (Priestfield Stadium, kick off 3pm)

Gillingham will be looking to put on a show infront of a bumper crowd on Saturday.

A special ticket offer for the next two home games comes as the Gills go looking for a fourth straight win.

The Gills have already beaten Fleetwood on their travels, beating them 2-0 just before Christmas.

Gills boss Steve Lovell Picture: Andy Jones
Gills boss Steve Lovell Picture: Andy Jones

Watch Gills for a fiver: See details of the special offer for fans.

The Gills will not only be boosted by form and a big turnout, they will also have new players on show at Priestfield.

Bury loanee Callum Reilly will be making his home debut, after an impressive first game for the Gills last weekend, while Franck Moussa will also hope to be involved after winning himself a contract.

Visitors Fleetwood have found form on the road, winning their last three in the league away from home.

League Form;

Gillingham (WWWDDW): Scunthorpe 3-1 (a), Rochdale 2-1 (h), Charlton 2-1 (a), Wimbledon 2-2 (h), Oxford 1-1 (h), Fleetwood 2-0 (a).

Fleetwood (LWLWWL): Blackburn 1-2 (h), Southend 2-1 (a), Bradford 1-2 (h), Bury 2-0 (a), Oldham 2-1 (a), Gillingham 0-2 (h).

Team news;

Gillingham will once again be without Scott Wagstaff, who is recovering from a hamstring strain.

Defender Gabriel Zakuani picked up a knock but was deemed fit enough to retain his place in the starting line-up as Gills were unchanged from last week's win at Scunthorpe.

New signing Franck Moussa is named on the subs bench with Liam Nash also included. It means no Darren Oldaker or Ben Nugent from the squad last week.

More on the Gills;

Anything could happen, says the boss, as the transfer window comes to a close

Lovell: I haven't achieved anything yet

Game-time for Gills hopefuls

Last time out;

Scunthorpe United 1 Gillingham 3

Gillingham overcame high-flying Scunthorpe to register a third straight win in League 1.

Victory took them into the top half of the table.

Lee Martin fired the Gills infront but it was all-square early in the second half with a goal from Josh Morris.

Josh Parker restored Gillingham’s lead and Tom Eaves sealed the win.

More: Striker threatened with a fine before hitting Gills' third last Saturday

Last meeting at Priestfield;

Gillingham 2 Fleetwood 3 - April 2017

Gillingham remained threatened with relegation after suffering a home defeat to Fleetwood last time out.

Fleetwood won the match in stoppage-time and defeat was greeted by boos at the final whistle by angry home fans.

The Gills, the under Ady Pennock, were ahead at the break, as keeper Alex Cairns turned in Zesh Rehman’s header.

The visitors levelled in the second half through Ashley Hunter but a deflected Rory Donnelly free-kick put the Gills back infront. David Ball made it all-square again and Kyle Dempsey won it in stoppage time.

Head to Head;

Gillingham wins: 2 Draws: 2 Fleetwood wins: 5

Man in the middle;

Brett Huxstable (Devon)

Game: 26, yellows: 93, reds: 7

Players beware, the man officiating Gills' game on Saturday has dished out six red cards in his last six games.

He sent two Yeovil players off in their New Year's Day fixture before half-time, drawing plenty of criticism in the local press.

Mr Huxstable was last at Priesrfield back in October, officiating the 1-1 draw with Wigan, dishing out just a single yellow card that evening.

Assistants: George Warren & Graham Kane. Fourth official: Thomas Ramsey.

From the opposition;

Defender Bailly Cargill, a former Gills loanee, won't be involved. He ended his loan spell at Fleetwood last week, recalled by Bournemouth and immediately sent out on loan to Scottish Premier League side Partick Thistle.

Another player to have had a brief spell at Gills has also departed. Full-back Amari'i Bell has joined Blackburn Rovers. His left-back role will be filled by Kevin O'Conner, a new signing on loan from Preston.

One to watch - Paddy Madden;

Fleetwood's new striker scored on his debut for Fleetwood after joining from Scunthorpe.

He netted the crucial second goal in what turned out to be a 2-1 win over Southend a fortnight ago.

Stuart Nelson has a free-kick covered Picture: Andy Payton
Stuart Nelson has a free-kick covered Picture: Andy Payton

A 'six-figure fee' was paid for the 27-year-old, who ended a five-year spell with Scunthorpe, after making the switch.

The Irishman found himself down the pecking order at Scunthorpe, but has a good track record behind him, scoring 52 goals for them in 152 league starts.

Fancy a flutter?

The Gills are on a winning run and you can get 6/4 on them taking all three points again, with Paddy Power. It's 9/4 the draw and 9/5 an away win.

At 9/2, Tom Eaves is the favourite to open the scoring, while Devante Cole heads the Fleetwood list at 9/2.

Lee Martin has scored in Gillingham's last two games, he's 9/1 to get the first goal this time around. Set-piece specialist Luke O'Neil is 35/1.

Keep up with the action on Saturday by following kentonlinegills' twitter account.

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