Gillingham v Doncaster Rovers - Opposition Fan Preview - Written by Lewis Browning

Gillingham’s men will play their first home league game for over two weeks on Saturday when they host Doncaster Rovers, a team just five points ahead of them and one they will want to beat if they want to continue their play-off charge and fine unbeaten league run, which now stands at 12 games. You can read our preview of the match here.

We spoke to Rovers fan Adam Stubbings, who runs a fan site named ‘Into The Empty Net’, about his team’s season so far, what he expects from both teams on the day, and how he sees the rest of Doncaster’s season going.

How’s your season been so far?

It’s been encouraging, all things considered. We lost a lot of players in the summer along with the manager (Grant McCann) but have bounced back, recruited smartly and now, under, Darren Moore have shown the signs of turning a transitional year into one we can seriously push for a play-off place in.

Matching the achievement of finishing sixth last year would be great, but we certainly aren’t taking anything for granted and know that the competition for a place in that top six is very high in League One this season.

We started off quite well but, with a small squad full of young and inexperienced players, maintaining that consistency was always going to be difficult, and we did tail off before rediscovering our form over the Christmas period. We haven’t really had a settled side at any stage of the campaign, so that’s another factor in why this is more of a transitional year for the club than anything more substantial. Still, it’s been promising, and the mood is good around the fanbase.

And your form going into the game?

It’s pretty good, albeit with a touch of that inconsistency I mentioned before. We have amassed 20 points from 10 games in 2020 so far - the joint best in the division at a very healthy average of two points per game. If we keep that up, everyone will be pleased with our efforts. We haven’t managed to string too many wins together in a row, mind, but can’t complain with six victories in our last ten games.

We’ll be aware of Gillingham’s form - unbeaten in the league since before we met in the FA Cup back in early December - so I’m sure the game will be well contested between two sides with good momentum.

Who are your key players?

That conversation has to start with Kieran Sadlier. The Irish winger is our top scorer with 11 goals and is the highest scoring midfielder across all of League One, with six assists on top of that. He has a major influence on our attacking style in every game and was once again our main threat in the recent home games with Rochdale and Bolton, playing a crucial role in the opening goal of both games.

He usually plays on the left of a front three, but has moved to the right in wins over Bolton and Tranmere recently, putting in impressive performances. He’s an unpredictable, versatile player who will cause Gillingham a lot of problems.

Alongside Sads, new striker Fejiri Okenabirhie and forward Niall Ennis have both hit good goalscoring form and have good composure in front of goal and an ability to link up well with those behind them.

I’d expect the three mentioned to be the attacking trio on Saturday.

In defence, Tom Anderson has been an absolute rock and has, rightly, received a lot of praise for his recent run of form, although, in truth, he has been fantastic all season and rarely puts a foot wrong.

Strong in the air, calm in defending the penalty area and surprisingly good with his feet for a player so tall and rangy, he is someone that the Gills strikers will have a hard time getting the better of.

Any notable absentees?

Reece James, our usual first choice left back, suffered a really nasty shin injury on Tuesday night against Bolton and spent two nights in hospital having been stretchered off after coming off the worse in a 50/50 challenge with Joe Dodoo just before half time.

His attacking prowess down the flank will be sorely missed, although deputy Cameron John is very capable and has played in the position a few times recently despite being a centre half by trade. John has the strength that James doesn’t, but his end product is nowhere near as refined as James’ when in attacking areas.

Who do you reckon is Gillingham’s biggest threat?

Midfielder Olly Lee impresses me with his range of passing; his link up and movement are also things which will need to be guarded against in order to have success in the game.

The obvious look, though, is to the forward line, which will be difficult to scout well considering how new John Akinde and Jordan Roberts are to the Gillingham side.

Both seem to have transformed the side for the better, so we will need to come up with a plan to combat them. The physical battle between Akinde and Anderson could swing the balance of the whole game.

What do you expect from Steve Evans’ side on the day?

I’m expecting a robust, organised side that knows how to manage the difficult conditions, and one that no doubt has a good strategy to try and nullify our attacking threat.

Evans has done a great job of that against us already this season; we were humbled at Priestfield in the FA Cup, although we did play an untried formation with three centre backs that hasn’t been used by Darren Moore since and wasn’t before, and the opening day clash between the sides at the Keepmoat Stadium was a combative 1-1 draw.

Gillingham’s recent unbeaten run is a mark of how strong Evans has made this team. They’re clearly a tough prospect to come up against and I would say they’re an outside shot to push into the play-offs.

How do you see the game going?

I think it will be a really close affair, much more so than the FA Cup meeting, and I’d expect one moment of quality to decide it, or indeed a big error.

Storm Dennis hits the UK this weekend, so the conditions will probably impact the quality of the game as an overall spectacle, but that’s no excuse for a poor performance from either side, and I do think these two are teams who can overcome any issues with the playing conditions.

As I said before, the physical battle between Gillingham’s forward line and our defence will probably be the most important one, coupled with the ability of our midfielders to dictate the play and control possession. We are always a better side when able to do that, so, if Gillingham do a good job of disrupting the flow of our play through midfield, it could spell bad news for us.

A prediction, please.

I will go for a 1-1 draw. I think we have enough in us to get something from the game, but I’m not really expecting a win.

How do you see the rest of your season panning out?

I think we can keep improving and keep pushing towards the top six, but actually finishing in the play-offs will be a tall order.

This is, ultimately, a year of development and transition for us as Darren Moore moulds the squad in his image and implements his playing philosophy, so a finish in and around where we are now - seventh to 10^th in the table - would be more than acceptable.

Ten of our last fourteen matches are away from home as well, unfortunately, which I’m sure will have an impact on how our season ends. We’ve won three of our last five away games, though, and often set up to counter attack and the space in front of our attackers, but I think so much travelling would take its toll on any side; we have five aways out of six fixtures in March, with a few Tuesday night trips thrown in, too.

‘Into The Empty Net’ can be found on Twitter @DRFC_ITEN, and their website is intotheemptynet.com.