Evans vows to fight on as Gills head for the clash at the Pirelli
THINGS come full circle, in a way, for Burton Albion tomorrow when Gillingham come to the Pirelli Stadium.
The Gills’ Priestfield Stadium is where an exciting second half to the season started with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s first game as manager.
It started with a 1-0 win, a debut goal for on-loan centre-half Hayden Carter and the first clean sheet for almost a year.
At the time, Gillingham, managed by one of the Brewers’ oldest adversaries, Steve Evans, were 14th and did not look up to much.
They have been better since and almost threatened a late play-off push at one point before falling away, although they were still good enough to surprise Peterborough
United with a 1-0 win at London Road 10 days ago.
Evans says he is determined that his team will fight to the end of the season.
“There is much work to be done and to finish the season with two wins must be the priority,” he said.
“We will prepare properly for Burton Albion. Just because you are not in the play-off group doesn’t mean you don’t fight to win.
“We have come so far from what was expected.
“We have come from six players on the opening day of pre-season training, we were scratching our heads when there were one or two we didn’t get.
“You look at it over a season, we have not had the quality at certain times, we have predominantly been playing with 12-13 players who have been trying to claw us there.
“We have just fallen short by missing two or three that would make a massive difference to us in key areas of the team.
“We have not got them and we fight on, we take the disappointment and prepare for Burton.
“We have Burton and then the last game against Plymouth on the Sunday to see where it takes us and then we will have a few days to think about where our futures lie, where we are going to be, what we are going to do.
“Then, with the calmness of a couple of days away from it, make some informed decisions that are right for all of us.”