Aiming to consign their respective weekend defeats to history, bottom-half battlers Gillingham and Crewe Alexandra renew hostilities at Priestfield Stadium on Tuesday night.
Neil Harris's side went down 2-0 to Walsall in their most recent League Two showdown, while the visitors were also nullified in a 1-0 defeat to Northampton Town.
Match preview
© Reuters
The New Year certainly brought a new sense of optimism for Gillingham, who had only suffered three league defeats in 2023 prior to their trip to a Walsall side who just could not buy a win, but another meek attacking display bedevilled Harris's men.
Second-half strikes from Isaac Hutchinson and Conor Wilkinson did the damage on Saturday, but Harris still cut a relatively upbeat figure after the game given his side's stellar run in 2023 so far, albeit while having a few "choice words" for his players in the dressing room.
A recent lull in performances has seen Gillingham win just one of their last five League Two games, but they have built up a healthy lead over the bottom two, currently sitting 20th and seven points clear of the drop zone with 10 games left to play.
Failing to score in four of their last five league games may cause alarm within Harris's ranks, though, and their run of three successive clean sheets in the fourth tier was ended at Banks's Stadium, but home comforts have served the Gills extremely well in recent weeks.
Indeed, Harris's men have won five of their six League Two matches at Priestfield Stadium since the turn of the year - scoring at least twice in four of those games and only losing to playoff-chasing Bradford City - and the less said about Crewe Alexandra's form on rival territory, the better.
Lee Bell's side would have hardly been gifted a better opportunity to snap their abysmal away run against an injury-decimated Northampton side, but their efforts proved futile in a narrow defeat to the podium hopefuls, who never looked back after Louis Appere's strike.
Lamenting his side conceding another "avoidable" goal, Bell - who had embarked on a seven-game unbeaten run with Crewe Alexandra between February and March - has now witnessed the Railwaymen suffer successive 1-0 losses to Stevenage and Northampton, although few will knock them for going down to the automatic promotion challengers.
However, with just three wins to shout about from their 15 fourth-tier matches in 2023 so far, Crewe Alexandra are treading a dangerous path, as they occupy 18th spot in the rankings - just four points better off than Gillingham but safely 11 points clear of the dotted line.
Furthermore, all three of the visitors' wins in the current calendar year have come on their own patch, with Bell's men failing to win any of their last eight League Two games on the road and only prevailing twice on unfamiliar territory all season long.
Gillingham and Crewe shook hands on a 1-1 draw back in October, but the Gills can boast four wins from their last four home contests against their upcoming opponents - a run stretching back to a 3-1 loss in March 2014, where Mathias Pogba was among the scorers on the day.
Team News
© Reuters
Gillingham left-back David Tutonda came off with an apparent injury during the defeat to Walsall, and while the severity of his reported issue remains unclear, Robbie McKenzie is on hand to deputise if need be.
McKenzie was fit enough to come off the bench on Saturday following an injury - the same could not be said for Lewis Page, though - while striker Scott Kashket has suffered a setback in his recovery from a groin problem and may miss out again.
Despite the nature of his side's defeat last time out, Harris should nevertheless keep changes to a minimum, but Dom Jefferies is a candidate to come back into the engine room.
Meanwhile, Crewe would have welcomed defender Rod McDonald back from a three-game ban this week, but he has since sustained an injury in training, while Christopher Long and Zac Williams remain out as they continue their recoveries.
Neither Ryan Finnigan nor Tariq Uwakwe were cleared to play against Northampton either, having both sustained muscular problems during the recent loss to Stevenage, and both men will need once-overs in the coming hours.
James Beadle, Connor O'Riordan, and Lachlan Brook are also away with their national teams, while Sean Robertson has picked up an illness and is also classed as doubtful for the depleted visitors.
Gillingham possible starting lineup:
Morris; Alexander, Ehmer, Masterson, McKenzie; O'Brien, Williams, Jefferies, Lapslie; Hawkins, Nichols
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Richards; Robertson, Mellor, Offord, Adebisi; Ainley, Tabiner, Colkett; Agyei, Baker-Richardson, Nevitt
We say: Gillingham 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra's miserable away-day fortunes are showing no signs of coming to an end anytime soon, and facing a Gillingham side with a taste for wins at home is hardly a recipe for success.
Harris has implored his players to give him a response to Saturday's defeat, and we expect the Gills to do just that, even if Crewe's backline will be reinforced by the returning McDonald.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
