By Aston
March 18 2005

Town will again be trying to keep the pressure on the top two with a third win on the spin when they play Gillingham tomorrow.

Gillingham Preview

Town will again be trying to keep the pressure on the top two with a third win on the spin when they play Gillingham tomorrow.

Town manager Joe Royle is only one player short of a full first team squad with only long term absentee Drissa Diallo unable to play while Jim Magilton has been passed fit after a calf strain.

Town manager Joe Royle is expecting another hard game, saying: “Stan Ternent has come in and galvanised Gillingham and they are in with a shout of getting away from the relegation area now, they have a decent home record lately and have beaten Wigan and Stoke so it will be another tricky game for us.

“The fact that they are fighting for their lives makes them dangerous opponents as we saw with another team at the bottom when we played Cardiff on Tuesday.

“And while I'd love to see us play good football and pass the ball around all over the place like we did against Forest, at this stage of the season it's all about winning football matches.”

Gillingham boss Stan Ternent could be with out first choice goalkeeper Steve Banks who suffered a dead leg in the Gills game against Stoke Barry Ashby is also missing. Chris Hope and Alan Pouton are both doubts.

Gillingham assistant manager Ronnie Jepson is wishing Town had waited a little longer before finding their form again, saying: “Our confidence is quite high at the moment, but we are under no illusions about the task ahead of us.

“Ipswich are an excellent team and they have just found form at the wrong time for us, but it should be a great game for the supporters and the players alike.

“We have had Ipswich watched for their last three games - including their 6-0 win over Forest - and we know only too well what a good side they are.

“We have had a good run of form recently though, but so have the other teams around us so we need to keep getting results.”

Other games for Town fans to watch this weekend would be Coventry visiting Sunderland and Wigan heading to Nottingham.

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