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Gillingham hope to make it four wins in a row this Saturday against rock-bottom Forest Green - but the head coach isn’t taking them lightly.
Successive league wins over Sutton United, Colchester United and Accrington Stanley have left the Gills full of confidence and hot favourites for a win against a struggling side who haven’t won in League 2 since the end of October. On Thursday night they announced that head coach Troy Deeney had been sacked.
More: Goalkeeper coach takes charge at Forest Green
Gills’ head coach Stephen Clemence will be confident of another win but knows anybody in the division can have a good day - even the basement boys.
“I respect every opponent,” Clemence said, prior to his counterpart’s sacking. “I know the work I put in alongside Robbie (Stockdale, the assistant coach) and the other people in the football department, that sort of work is going on at other football clubs, just as we work hard on trying to beat an opponent, they are doing the same to us.
“There are a lot of good coaches out there, a lot of good players in this league and we have to respect every opponent fully and we will continue to do that.
“The mood has been good since I have been here, we have had some disappointing afternoons but the lads are enjoying the football we’re playing, we have won three on the spin but in the games before that, we could have won more.
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“More chances are being created, more balls in the box, more touches of the ball, we are moving in the right direction but we have another difficult game on Saturday.
“They play a system which is quite brave, but it can give you problems, especially in transition so we have to be ready for it and the boys will be prepared. They are at the bottom end of the table but we will work hard on telling the boys what they do and also how we can exploit them.
“We will be going for four on the spin, the lads are in confident mood and we’re looking forward to Saturday.
“I really hope the game is going to be on because there are issues with the weather, the pitch is covered, I expect it to be on but we don’t need another cold spell.”
The Gills spent much of the week training on 3G due to the frozen conditions but Clemence admitted they had to be cautious.
He said: “You do have to be careful on a different surface, unaccustomed activity as they call it in the sports and medical department, you have to be careful on a different surface, you can’t overdo it and so we have maybe had to take it back a bit in our sessions, but we have got the work in.”
League 2 table
Forest Green Rovers’ now-departed head coach Troy Deeney caused controversy following his criticism of his own team after their defeat to Harrogate last time out, saying there were “too many babies” in his team and singling out others for criticism.
Prior to that he got sent off in a match at Swindon and was due to start a four-game touchline ban on Saturday.
Clemence, who prefers to keep criticism in-house, was asked about Deeney’s comments and said: “I have enough going on talking to my own players and dealing with that, so what other managers are saying about their own players is their business. I have enough on my plate.”
Rovers have put goalkeeper coach Dan Connor in charge for the game at Gillingham.
Last week’s sickness bug at the Gils, meanwhile, has cleared up with striker Ashley Nadesan back in training. He missed last weekend’s trip to Accrington.
Oli Hawkins returned on Thursday after missing the early part of the week after also suffering last week. Dom Jefferies is back training and looking to be involved again after being out with an injury he picked up in the FA Cup game against Sheffield United.
