Two sides who could do well with a win get underway in the FA Cup as Gillingham and Blackpool go head to head at the Priestfield Stadium on Saturday.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides since April 2021, when the Seasiders cruised to a 4-1 victory in their League One clash through goals from Sullay KaiKai, Elliot Embleton and a first-half brace from Jerry Yates.
Match preview
Gillingham were left with a bitter taste of "what could have been" in their bid to end their losing streak last weekend when they were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Swindon Town at the Nigel Eady County Ground.
Following Grant Hall's ninth-minute sending-off, the Gills quickly took advantage of their numerical upper hand as Timothee Dieng headed home the opener in the 16th minnute, but Harry Smith finished off a well-worked team goal in the 93rd minute to snatch a point for Swindon.
Having lost each of their previous five outings, Gillingham have now gone six consecutive games without a win — claiming just one point from a possible 18 in the League Two — their longest run of games without a win since also failing to win six straight matches between August and September 2022.
Following a fine start to the campaign, when they picked up six wins and one draw from their opening eight league matches, this drop-off in form has seen Mark Bonner's men plunge into 11th-place in the League Two table, level on 20 points with 12th-placed Salford City. Â
Gillingham will now look to find their feet this weekend as they turn their focus to the FA Cup, where they will be looking to surpass their third-round finish from each of the last two seasons.
A second-half strike from Kelechi Iheanacho gave Leicester City a narrow 1-0 victory when the two sides met in the third round back in 2022, before the Gills were thrashed 4-0 by Sheffield United in the same round in the 2023-24 campaign.
Like this weekend's hosts, Blackpool were involved in a share of the spoils last time out when they fought back from two goals behind to salvage a 2-2 draw against Wigan Athletic.
Wigan netted all four goals at Bloomfield Road as Jason Kerr and Will Aimson put the ball in the back of their net to level matters after going two goals up in the first half courtesy of strikes from Dion Rankine and Mathew Smith.
Blackpool have now failed to taste victory five games on the spin, losing three and claiming two draws, having picked up three back-to-back victories over Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield Town and Burton Albion in the three outings preceding this run.
Steve Bruce's men have picked up four wins and four draws from their 13 League One games this season to sit 16th in the table with 16 points and will be looking to build on last weekend's result against Wigan as they turn their attention to the FA Cup.
Blackpool will be looking to improve on their cup outing from last season, where they brushed aside Bromley and Forest Green Rovers before losing 3-2 against Nottingham Forest in extra time of the return leg, having held the Premier League side to a 2-2 draw in the first leg on January 7.
Team News
Gillingham will take to the pitch without the services of 26-year-old defender Robbie McKenzie, who is set to sit out his fifth straight match since coming off injured against Crewe Alexandra on October 5.
Aaron Rowe has been ruled out since August and continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines while 28-year-old forward Elliott Nevitt is a doubt, having missed each of the last three games.
With his opener against Swindon, Dieng now has two goals and one assist in seven League Two appearances this season and the French midfielder could retain his role in the Gills' XI this weekend.
As for Blackpool, Bruce will be unable to name experienced midfielder Oliver Norburn, who has been out of action since coming off injured back in September.
Elkan Baggott and Andy Lyons also continue their lengthy spells on the sidelines while former Brentford defender Dominic Thompson has missed the last eight games since picking up an injury in September.
Gillingham possible starting lineup:
Turner; Masterson, Ehmer, Ogie, Hutton, Clarke; Coleman, Dieng, Williams; Wakeling, Hawkins
Blackpool possible starting lineup:
O'Donnell; Offiah, Pennington, Casey, Coulson; Apter, Evans, Carey, Embleton; Joseph, Fletcher
We say: Gillingham 0-2 Blackpool
Gillingham and Blackpool have struggled to get going in recent weeks and will head into Saturday's clash in search of a huge result before their return to league action.
While the Gills' home advantage gives them a slight edge, the gulf in quality between the two teams makes Bruce's side firm favourites on paper, and we fancy them to come away with the desired result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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