Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence scraps time off after Easter Monday shocker at Harrogate Town – Gills preparing for trip to Bradford City on Saturday
05:00, 02 April 2024
updated: 07:27, 02 April 2024
Gillingham players are due back in for training today after the head coach scrapped a planned two-day break.
Stephen Clemence was hoping his Gills team would come back from Harrogate with a positive result on Easter Monday after a home draw with Grimsby on Friday. Instead, his side turned in a dour second-half showing, conceding a flurry of goals to lose 5-1, a result that leaves their play-off hopes all but over.
More: Boss angered and disturbed after collapse
Clemence, who apologised to the fans after the game, said: “The plan was to give the players two days off but we will be in now and getting prepared for Bradford.
“The boys will be getting ready to go for the next game because you can’t be having days off after that, none of us deserve it.”
The Gills started seventh in the table on Monday after a goalless draw at Priestfield on Friday lifted them into the final play-off positions.
Defeat at Harrogate sees them slip to ninth, with Crawley moving up to seventh with two games in hand over the Gills.
League 2 table
Gillingham have four games left of the season, with a trip to Bradford City coming up next, on Saturday.
The Gills were looking good at Harrogate, leading 1-0 in the first half, but it all went wrong in the second half.
“I have never seen it from them,” said the coach.
“I think we had a little 15 minute spell at Tranmere away when I first came in, where they started the second half really well and I thought ‘ooh, this could get messy’ but I had never seen it from the boys since.
“Harrogate have had a good season but I don’t expect us to concede five goals against Harrogate, not one bit, that was not something that I saw at all coming. I expected us to win and we haven’t delivered on that.
“For that to happen was shocking, it shocked me, but we’ll be back in (on Tuesday).”
Harrogate, meanwhile, have been given two days off after their big win against the Gills.
They went into the game with just one win in 10 and boss Simon Weaver said: “We’ll have two days off to rest minds, as well as bodies, to come back refreshed and looking forward to another big game (at Notts County).”
Harrogate moved to within two points of the Gills with their win on Monday, with a game in hand.
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