Gillingham return to League Two action for the first time since early December when they host Colchester United on Monday at Priestfield Stadium.
Both teams are currently facing relegation, sitting in the bottom two places of the table with 14 points each, but also just a single point away from League Two salvation.
Match preview
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Following a pair of postponements earlier this month, the Gills will play their first domestic encounter since dropping a 3-0 decision at home to Salford City on December 3rd.
Manager Neil Harris would likely have taken that extra time to work on his side's finishing, something they have struggled with all season, netting a mere six strikes domestically after 20 matches played and without a goal in six consecutive domestic affairs.
A week ago, they failed to create much when in possession, though Gillingham barely touched the ball when they suffered a 2-0 defeat at Wolves in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup, accumulating just 20% possession.
While the result was not in their favour, Harris was pleased with how well his team defended under a lot of pressure, holding a side three divisions above them goalless until Raul Jimenez put the home side in front with a 77th-minute penalty and Rayan Ait-Nouri added an insurance marker in stoppage time.
The Gills have not scored the opening goal in a league fixture since early October, when they took the lead at Crewe Alexandra in the 12th minute only to concede an equaliser through Dan Agyei, with both sides eventually playing to a 1-1 draw.
Their only two victories in this season's competition have come at Priestfield Stadium, scoring five of their six goals on home soil.
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It was another close call for Colchester in their last fixture on December 10th, but in the end, they came up short, dropping a 1-0 decision to Sutton United.
That was the third successive game in all competitions in which Matt Bloomfield saw his team lose by a single goal, with the U's conceding the winner in either the first or second half of injury time on each occasion.
Colchester have lost seven consecutive domestic encounters away from home, six of which were by a single goal, as they have yet to win a road game in this season's competition.
With just three victories after 21 league games, it is the fewest this club have managed to this point of any domestic campaign that they have competed in this century.
While they have rarely been on the right side of the score in their recent road games, Colchester have had their share of opportunities to collect points away from home, scoring the opener three times but only managing one point over that stretch.
Lately, their track record against Gillingham has been poor, losing four of the last five contests against them, most recently falling 6-5 on penalties at Priestfield Stadium in October in the opening round of the EFL Trophy in a game which ended 1-1 after normal time.
Team News
Gillingham came away with a victory the last time they featured at home, defeating Dag and Red 3-2 in an FA Cup replay earlier this month when Elkan Baggott, Max Ehmer and Hakeeb Adelakun all found the back of the net.
Lewis Walker had their only strike in that EFL Trophy encounter versus Colchester earlier this year, while Jake Turner stopped one penalty, allowing Jordan Green to score the winner.
Stuart O'Keefe played over 70 minutes versus Wolves despite sustaining a knock previously, Robbie McKenzie missed that encounter through injury, while Cheye Alexander and Mikael Mandron replaced Green and Walker in the starting 11.
Alex Newby has two goals in his last three league fixtures for Colchester, as he, Samson Tovide and Luke Hannant all scored in their previous victory, 3-0 over Doncaster when Sam Hornby collected a clean sheet.
John Akinde netted the equaliser in their opening round EFL Trophy defeat to Gillingham, where Frank Nouble and Marley Marshall-Miranda missed their spot kicks, sending them to defeat.
Ossama Ashley will be suspended for this encounter following his red card early in the second half when his side lost 1-0 at Sutton United, Alan Judge is done for the season because of a knee injury as he was replaced by Emyr Huws late in the opening half of that contest, while Cole Skuse came on for Hannant after only 22 minutes of action.
Gillingham possible starting lineup:
Turner; Alexander, Wright, Ehmer, McKenzie; Jefferies, Williams; Green, Adelakun, MacDonald; Mandron
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
O'Hara; Dallison, Smith, Chambers, Tchamadeu; Ashley, Skuse; Newby, Hannant, Huws; Sears
We say: Gillingham 0-0 Colchester United
These sides are where they are for a reason, because neither possesses a ton of depth nor quality in the attacking third, and we anticipate a passive affair on Boxing Day between a pair of clubs that might be too afraid to come away empty-handed, given how tight the relegation standings are at the moment.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
