Gillingham welcome early table toppers Crewe Alexandra to MEMS Priestfield on Saturday fresh from arguably their best home performance for many years on Tuesday night when Gareth Ainsworth saw his side dismantle Chesterfield’s perfect league start. 

Next up for the Gills is the only side left in League Two with a one hundred percent record, as the Alex come to Kent at the weekend and when we caught up with Ainsworth, he was quite rightly along with the rest of his squad still buzzing. 

“The atmosphere was great when the boys came in this morning,” the Gills boss admitted at Thursday’s briefing.  

“A win always helps but that buzz has honestly been around for a while now, our performances have been good and I was really happy to see us get what we deserved on Tuesday night which was a great victory, which was a hard victory, the fans loved it and the players certainly did as well.  

“It was nice to have that but we have to get back down to earth quickly, and I will make sure of that, as Crewe will be a tough test on Saturday, and I will make sure that these two days are working hard on what they potentially could bring and how we beat them and that’s my focus for the next 48 hours!” 

“All the experience that I have had in my career in football has helped me a lot after games like Tuesday. The younger you are the more you hit the ground with a bang sometimes it happens, but it’s my job to make sure that it doesn’t happen to any of my players!  

“When I was a young manager and it happened to me, I didn’t get carried away with it, but there is absolutely no way in the world that I will let the players get carried away with Tuesday not until the final whistle in the final game. We are ready for Crewe on Saturday, we are in a good position both mentally and physically – we have some injuries returning as we saw on Tuesday (Sam Vokes and Aaron Rowe) and yes it does give me some squad selection headaches now which is where I want it to be.” 

Ainsworth confessed that there was actually a point where he could enjoy his sides Tuesday night performance. Grinning he said, “As a football manager, as I said to Dobbo (assistant Alan Dobson) in the last minute – it was at ninety-five minutes and we were four one up and there was only ninety-six minutes to play and I said to Dobbo, “can we enjoy this moment?” and he agreed as he’d just turned round to say the same thing to someone else on the bench!  

“So, we enjoyed that moment because we won’t get it very often. Honestly its despair when you lose, relief when you win, so there isn’t regular enjoyment as you are back on the next game so quickly and the moment you start resting on your laurels and thinking how good that moment is, you get tripped up. So, to answer the question, for the last knockings of injury time, I finally had a chance to enjoy the football, but honestly it is a crazy job and we’re back on it now for the weekend.” 

“Crewe are up there as well as Chesterfield were, they have started the season well and have players in form! It will be another tough test for us without doubt. Known over the years for playing football and their style of football, without giving anything away or going into any detail, I analyse the games and there are different things that I look for every week – we will be ready. 

“As all League Two games are we know it will be a tough test and I am hoping that we will be as much a worry to every opposition manager as I do my due diligence on them; it is the way I work and we will be ready for them but it will be a tough test. They have history in their four games of being a very good side at this level and we must make sure that we are on our best!” 

Again, the Gills boss stated that he is still looking to bring in one or maybe two fresh faces before the end of the transfer window, and he wouldn’t be drawn on any potential Priestfield departures except to say, “things move very quickly in this window and so we will have to see!” 

Ainsworth confirmed that his side came through Tuesday’s win unscathed with Sam Vokes and Aaron Rowe both coming through substitute appearances. Max Clark will be available for selection after being banned on Tuesday and the manager confirmed that Seb Palmer-Houlden and Shad Ogie are both back training on grass after injuries with the manager confirming that both will not be rushed back.