Football: Rochdale travel to Gillingham knowing a win is vital

Rochdale manager Keith Hill

Rochdale travel to Gillingham after a mixed week, with an excellent win at Doncaster in the FA Cup last weekend followed by a poor performance in losing at home midweek against Lincoln in the EFL Cup.

Back to league action on Saturday, and with Dale languishing in trouble deep in the relegation zone, manager Keith Hill knows a win is vital.

He said: “We have had a difficult week, from Doncaster onward.

“We have had injuries and illness - reoccurring injuries and long-term injuries are sprouting up.

“We had a great training session yesterday [Thursday]. It was superb and there was a good appetite from the players. It is what it is, and we have just got to go and fight.”

Gillingham will be well rested not having played since New Year's Day, when they won away at Charlton.

Steve Lovell, Gillingham manager, said: "We have got to make sure that we are focussed and ready for Rochdale coming down here. They will be fighting for their lives and they will be well organised and fit. It will be a tough battle but we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready and giving it our best shot, that is all we can ask.

“I am not worried about us creating anything because we will always create. We have a lot of set plays; a lot of corners, free kicks perhaps we are not making the best of so far, so that is something in our game that we have been working on to get it right.”