Gillingham players due back in training after Plymouth Argyle loss - but manager Neil Harris says it's not a punishment
21:53, 19 February 2022
updated: 13:38, 20 February 2022
Manager Neil Harris says Gillingham's players are due back in training after their defeat to Plymouth - but insists that's not to punish them.
Instead, on Sunday, the relegation-threatened Gills will quickly switch their attentions to their massive home match against fellow strugglers AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday following their 2-0 loss to Plymouth.
Midfielder Ben Reeves, who has recovered from an ankle injury and came off the bench in the second half, is due to be assessed. But the Gills are still without Mustapha Carayol, as well as Danny Lloyd and Alex MacDonald who will be sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Commenting after their defeat to the Pilgrims, Harris said: "I have to pick the players up tomorrow.
"We are in tomorrow and it’s not a punishment, being in tomorrow. Some may look at it and think ‘Oh, the gaffer’s got them in on a Sunday’. No, no - we are in on a Sunday because we have a game on Tuesday and we've got to learn, and that’s what we have to do at our football club now.
"We are in to prepare properly for Tuesday. I do have some options to be able to change it but also (I am) mindful of the fact that a lot of those players have played a lot of games for me already, and they have done exceptionally well.
"So it’s not going to be wholesale changes. But we do have to look at tinkering with the group - whether that’s personnel or shape.
"That’s not just for one game (on Tuesday), moving forward, I’ll always have to consider my options."
Harris also praised both sets of supporters who made it to the game after Storm Eunice hit on Friday and there were wild conditions on the afternoon of the game, too. Due to Storm Eunice, the Gordon Road turnstiles at Priestfield was shut.
"(It was a) great effort by the football club to get the game on," Harris commented. "Having been here on Friday, there were disastrous scenes around the stadium.
"For both sets of fans to just get here in the first place is just testament to them and their love of the football clubs. We didn’t perform.
"We weren’t good enough, but they (the Gills fans) stuck with us. They didn’t have a lot to sing about with our performance, and that has to change. But they stuck with the players.
"Even quietness is appreciated sometimes because it means you’re not getting on the players’ backs!
"We have to make sure, on Tuesday night, we are better than we were."
Harris also revealed training had been affected the day before the match due to the storm, saying: "Tuesday was fine, Thursday was fine, Friday was… Not! We couldn’t do a lot on Friday.
"But that’s not why we lost the game. No excuses, the better team won."
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