Midweek fixtures offer hope for Gills

Over the next couple of days, a number of crunch matches in the bottom of the table will give the Gills the opportunity to start to climb away from the bottom of the table, provided they get a result tonight against Watford.

Gills currently sit in 23rd place, tied on points (13) with Forest in 22nd. Forest take on Rotherham at home on Wednesday expected to win, but the teams immediately above Gillingham and Forest look set to struggle this week.

Crewe Alexandra and Cardiff City are both just two points ahead of Gillingham and Forest on 15 points - and both have very tough home games. Dario Gradi's men entertain Championship draw specialists Leicester City, while Cardiff face West Ham.

Just one point clear of Crewe and Cardiff sit Wolves (17pts), who have been dragged into trouble following some poor results, capped off by defeat at Priestfield to a 10-man Gills side. They have a tough away trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland with no permanent manager installed after the sacking of Dave Jones.

Then, just out of Gillingham and Forest's reach for the moment, come Leeds and Burnley, who face each other on Wednesday night.

These fixtures will almost certainly result in some of the sides dropping points. If the Gills can stay solid and pick up another win, it could be a huge confidence boost going into the rest of November's matches.

The Gills' win over Wolves represents a great result. Andy Hessenthaler will need it to turn in to a run of results to help get the Gills out of trouble. A win tonight could be just the trick.

TUESDAY NIGHT

Crewe (15pts) v Leicester
Cardiff (15pts) v West Ham
Gillingham (13pts) v Watford
Sunderland v Wolves (17pts)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Forest (13pts) v Rotherham
Leeds (18pts) v Burnley (18pts)
Coventry (18pts) v Preston