DPL v Gillingham

Table toppers Gillingham come to Doncaster tomorrow and their manager has been quite complimentary about Rovers which he sees as their toughest test yet.

As a club, they changed owners just at the end of the season before last and a good deal of player investment has taken place since then. More experience amongst their incoming players has meant that their brand of football is not always of the purest and it seems they had very little of the ball against Fleetwood (who finished with 10 men) which was their only setback - a draw 0-0. They picked up maximum points against Chesterfield, again with minimal possession and a man from each side sent off. Going further back they beat Carlisle 4-1 away with minimal possession and the only game with convincing stats in their favour was the 1-0 away win at Morecambe.

Although Rovers cannot look back on unblemished stats or comfortable dominance they have generally deserved their wins, so the Gill’s manager is justified in regarding this as a definite challenge. Equally, sitting where they do, they have a position to protect and should be well prepared.

I have said this before, but GMcC must still be unclear as to which is his best team and his options are currently reduced by injuries, so we are going to have to do without Wood for 3 months as well as Maxwell and now Nixon too. McGrath seems sound enough now if he avoids stupid risks and we still seem to have enough to cope adequately with what Gillingham are likely to offer, albeit minus TSL and Kelly.

How McC sorts out the Sharp - Ironside situation remains intriguing and I can’t say that we have not seen the 23/24 Ironside yet or indeed last season’s version of Kyle Hurst.

I’m going for a 2-0 home win (Molyneux/Sharp)