Home support for Gillingham will be crucial this weekend says boss Steve Evans.

Visitors Ipswich Town will have over 2,000 fans cheering them on at Priestfield and the Gills will need all the help they can get.

Gillingham haven’t played at home since narrowly losing to Portsmouth at the end of November - two home games in December were postponed because of Covid - and the visit of Ipswich is the first of four matches at ME7 this month.

Evans will be hoping they can make that count.

He said: “Ipswich is going to be massive, really tough, we are in a battle at that bottom end and we need some points to get out of that battle.

“We are going to fight, we might get beaten by quality but we are going to fight. If we do that again we will be in the game.

“It shouldn’t be forgotten that we have got a lot of home games to come. We have been on the road and two of our home games, against Crewe and Ipswich, both were off [because of Covid]. From that point of view we will have a catch-up time at Priestfield and that is when we need the supporters.

“They have been our 12th man, sometimes our 13th man, many times in the last two seasons and we are going to need them.

"We don't want doubts but we may have a day where it doesn't happen for us because we are playing some big clubs, but we know what we have to do.”

Injured players are back working to get up to speed. Captain Kyle Dempsey is hoping to play after returning to training and will be assessed after Friday's session.

• More: Midfielder enjoying the battle at Gillingham

Striker John Akinde missed New Year's Day's goalless draw at MK Dons with injury, out with a slight hamstring strain. He made the trip but wasn’t able to play.

It ends an horrific run of injuries for the Gills, with Evans using youth players to make up the numbers.

Evans said: “It has been the hardest six to eight weeks ever, with game after game players getting injured, not small injuries, six, eight, 10 weeks, consistently for seven or eight weeks.

“I have always said you have to find a way to come back in the next day and get motivated and be positive with the group because we have got what we have got every time we play.

“Liam Manning (the MK Dons manager) said before we played them he didn’t know what team we would come with. I am 100% certain when he saw our teamsheet he would have known it would be tough, as opposed to recent weeks where managers get the teamsheet and are thinking if we score one we will get three or four.”

Ipswich were originally due to visit on Boxing Day but Covid in the Gills camp led to that game being postponed. The match has been rescheduled on FA Cup weekend as both teams are out of the competition.

The visitors have ground to make up in their quest for promotion, recently changing managers to give them new hope. Former Manchester United coach Kieran McKenna started his stint at the club with a 1-0 win over high-flyers Wycombe Wanderers.

Gillingham head into the weekend looking to win their first game since October 19.

Ipswich have sold out their allocation of around 2,100 tickets for the Town End.

Their new boss is expecting the Gills to come at them in similar fashion as Wycombe did.

"Gillingham aren't too dissimilar to Wycombe in terms of style," McKenna said.

"They're a strong team physically and they're effective on set-pieces and winning the second ball. They will put us under pressure and try to put balls into the box.

• More on the opposition: Ipswich could benefit from Covid-break

"Against Wycombe we stood up well to that type of threat. If we are as solid, organised and resolute as we were in that game, with the same level of determination, then we give ourselves a good chance."

Gillingham will have new signing Tom Dickson-Peters available after the 19-year-old striker joined on loan from Ipswich’s rivals Norwich City. His arrival adds to Gills' attacking options but Evans has said he is still looking for another forward with more experience to arrive before the January transfer window closes.