Gillingham are back on the road tonight as they face Chesterfield in a crucial League Two fixture.

Gillingham will be looking to bounce back after Saturday’s 0-1 loss away at Crewe Alexandra, as they take on another team who are chasing the playoff places.

The loss at Crewe played out in an all-too-familiar way for the Gills fans. Despite dominating the game in the first half with more attacking possession and shots on target, the Gills were unable to find the back of the net before they were undone by a set piece in the second half.

Gillingham currently sit 14^th in the table, nine points away from the playoff places, but they have at least one game in hand over most of the teams currently above them.

Chesterfield are currently 8^th on 49 points, one away from the playoff places and eight ahead of Gillingham. However, they have played one more game than the Kent side.

They had a great start to the season, winning their opening three fixtures, but this run was stopped by Gillingham, who beat them 4-1 at Priestfield. Since then, their season has been solid, having only lost six games out of the 31 played so far and only two of them at home.   

Last Saturday, they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Harrogate, who are currently fighting to stay in the EFL. Striker Lee Bonis put the home side ahead after 12 minutes but was dismissed for two bookable offences in the second half. Tobias Brenan scored the equaliser in the 84^th minute against a depleted Chesterfield.

Gillingham and Chesterfield have played each other on 73 occasions, with Gillingham winning 32 and Chesterfield 23.

The Gillingham squad has no new injuries from Saturday’s fixture. With such a quick turnaround between games, I expect to see some rotation to the starting lineup with Josh Andrews and Bradley Dack seeming the most obvious candidates to bring in.

Gillingham have 16 games left this season to make up a nine-point deficit.  The lowest number of points for a playoff-place finish over the past five seasons is 70, so Gillingham need at least 29 points from 16 to be in with a shout. While this is a tough ask, it is still feasible – especially if they can find some goals in the front three.

The ME7 faithful will need to keep the faith.