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Trigger's Tales: Gillingham first-team coach Nicky Southall writes exclusively for the KM Group

08:00, 15 April 2011

Adebayo Akinfenwa celebrates scoring Gillingham's fourth goal against Lincoln
Adebayo Akinfenwa celebrates scoring Gillingham's fourth goal against Lincoln

The Gillingham supporters really got behind us last week at Lincoln and we want that kind of atmosphere on Saturday.

We need to get Priestfield rocking and rolling and for the crowd to be our 12th man.

If the fans are on edge that can filter onto the field and make the players on edge so we want a carnival atmosphere in the stands to make it a great occasion. Hopefully then we can come away with three points.

Those supporters at Lincoln helped and the players put in a great shift.

It was great that we bounced back from the disappointment of the week before against Hereford and the fact that they then went and beat Chesterfield last week shows just what a hard team they are to play against.

With the result against Lincoln, we are still in the promotion hunt but the three points are all we are thinking about. We just need to make sure everyone is switched on right from the word go.

We just need to think about those three points and nothing else. It’s no point thinking about automatic promotion or play-off positions, we’ll just try to win and then see where that takes us.

It’s no point thinking about other results before the game or at half-time. If we do the job, then everything else will take care of itself.

We know Morecambe will be tough and they recently went to Rotherham and beat them.

Gillingham player-coach Nicky Southall
Gillingham player-coach Nicky Southall

It’s up to us to come out and start fast, like we did against Lincoln and hopefully we’ll have too much for them.

If we are not right, then it could be difficult.

Martin Allen started his new job at Notts County on Monday, just a few weeks after joining Barnet.

He had been doing a good job at Barnet and they are in with a chance of surviving relegation now.

He might not have been with Barnet long, just 19 days, but he was only non-contract there and he has got his future sorted out at Notts County. At the end of the day, he’s got a family to look after and he wants to progress as a manager and to get up that ladder.

When I was at Nottingham Forest we used to train with the Notts County stadium in view and it’s a big club, with plenty of ambition. I wish them the best.

Giuliano Grazioli has come in now to take over at Barnet and he is someone myself and Andy know well from our time together at Dover.

He’s Barnet through and through and I am sure he will do well.

I've been doing my bit for international relations this week after spending a couple of days in Italy.

I was there representing the club as part of a tie-up between the University of Greenwich at Medway and a few clubs in Sicily, including Napoli. I was just helping to put on a bit of coaching and I was joined by coaches from Inter Milan and AC Milan. I went without a phrase book and the only word I knew was ciao!

It was a long trip getting there, leaving home at 3.30am with a flight to Rome and then heading to Sicily where I got a taxi with this driver who spent the entire journey driving up the back of someone else and I didn’t even have a seat belt.

It was the worst white knuckle ride I had ever been on!

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