If we can sneak into play-offs we’ll be in Championship next term, says Gills boss
POMPEY’S determination to remain in the promotion mix saw them call time on Kenny Jackett’s Fratton Park stay and replace him with Danny Cowley last week.
It was deemed the necessary course of action to ensure the Blues at least finish in League One’s top six and be part of the end-ofseason play-offs.
Cowley helped settle those nerves as Pompey came from behind to beat promotion rivals Ipswich on Saturday.
Yet that, and any further progress made by the head coach and his inherited team over the next 11 games, could prove pointless if Gillingham boss Steve Evans’ outlandish prediction is to be believed.
Evans is of the opinion his Gills side will claim the third and final promotion place to the Championship – if his troops manage to grab one of the four play-off places.
It’s an assertion based on his belief that the Kent outfit have the ‘best squad for cup-tie football’ in the division.
Prior to last night’s clash between Oxford and Lincoln, Gillingham sat ninth in the table on 54 points – two points off sixth spot, which is currently occupied by Blackpool.
They are among half-adozen clubs who are just one win away from breaking into the top six as an exciting run-in to the season begins.
Pompey are among those six teams, with a point more than Gillingham having played two games fewer.
But Evans believes the likes of the Blues and the four teams currently in the play-off positions are all destined for end-of-season heartache if his side book a top-six finish.
He told KentOnline :‘If we can sneak into those play-offs then we will be in the Championship next year and that is the test, the test is if we are good enough to get in there.
‘If we do then it’s cup-tie football and I have the best squad for cup-tie football sitting in our dressing room.
‘Last summer, when the season finished (early), I had a lot of managers in that top group saying to me we would get in there because we were in tremendous form.
‘But we are actually in better form this year with a better squad, better players.’
Gillingham have suffered just one defeat since drawing 1-1 with Pompey at Fratton Park on February 27 – a run that has seen them beat promotion contenders Ipswich and Lincoln and claim a draw against Doncaster.
They return to action with a trip to league leaders Hull this afternoon.