Saturday’s postponed League Two match between Burton Albion and Gillingham has left Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler aggravated by the lack of preparation that his side have had due to the sub-zero temperatures. “It has been a real frustrating few days” explained Hessenthaler. “We haven’t been able to train properly we haven’t got the facilities to train properly.”
With the Kent clubs recent defensive problems, it was hoped that the extended two week break without a game would give Hessenthaler the chance to tighten things up, however the inability to find a suitable location in which to train has put pay to any opportunity of improving upon the Gills defensive frailties. Hessenthaler continued: “We’ve tried to get on different areas, a full sized 3G pitch but we haven’t been able to do that because all the pitches are frozen over.”Southend visit the Priestfield Stadium on Monday evening being one of only two sides to have played two league matches so far this month, and Hessenthaler believes that the Gills’ two week layoff will give the promotion chasing Shrimpers the upper hand. He added: “That’s not going to make it easy for us, to miss two weeks of games it becomes hard to readjust.”
After picking up just three points from a possible 12 throughout January, the Gillingham boss is fully aware of the importance of getting back on track in the playoff push. He concluded: “We’ve got 19 games to go, we have got to stay within the mix. We’re two points outside of the playoffs with a game in hand, our main priority is to get back into the top seven.” A statement on the club’s website reassures fan’s that the match will go ahead and that a pitch inspection is unlikely to take place unless there is any dramatic deterioration on the weather front.
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