Gillingham have their final League fixture of the season at MEMS Priestfield, where they will take on Gareth Ainsworth’s former club, Shrewsbury Town.

It has been a frustrating season for the Gills, a season that began with the longest unbeaten run in the club’s history but has ended with a series of poor results – most notably the 6-2 loss away at Barnet last Saturday.

After going behind in the sixth minute, Gillingham equalised in the 13^th, courtesy of academy player Sullivan Booth, who made his professional debut in the game. Barnet’s goalscorer Callum Stead then piled on the pain for the travelling fans as he added three more goals in the opening 30 minutes, with Romoney Crichlow’s header in first half additional time making the scoreline 5-1 at half-time. Stead added his fifth of the match in the 70^th minute before Josh Andrews picked up a consolation in additional time.

The loss means Gillingham remain 18^th in the table with 50 points. Shrewsbury, meanwhile, are a point below in 19^th.

Shrewsbury have had a difficult season, but they have shown good resilience at the right time to ensure they stay in the league. They were in and out of the relegation zone until 15^th November when they beat Newport County 1-0, and five consecutive wins in February cemented their safety in League Two for another season.

Last Saturday, they secured a draw at home to Fleetwood Town with two second-half goals, having gone 2-0 down in the 59^th minute. Ismeal Kabia scored the equaliser in the 96^th minute.

Saturday’s fixture at Priestfield will also be Sam Vokes’ final game as a professional footballer, having recently passed 750 games, including 24 for Gillingham this season with three goals.

Gareth Ainsworth has apparently informed the Gills squad which players are in his plans for next season, so the squad will presumably reflect who he intends to build next season’s team around.

With this disappointing season coming to a close, Gills fans can only hope the performance at home on Saturday will offer them some hope that next season will be a significant improvement.