Portsmouth v Gillingham: team news, predicted XIs, what's been said, referee, key stats and form guides

Pompey welcome Gillingham to Fratton Park this afternoon.
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Here’s everything you need to know ahead of kick off (3pm).

Pompey team news

Joe Morrell has handed Pompey a fitness boost going into Saturday’s game.

The midfielder has returned to training and is in contention to feature against the Gills after sitting out Monday’s draw at Morecambe.

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Morrell travelled with the Blues to the Mazuma Stadium but failed a late fitness test after picking up a dead leg in the Good Friday win against Lincoln.

Along with Louis Thompson’s calf injury, that forced manager Danny Cowley to name a midfield pairing of Shaun Williams and Ryan Tunnicliffe in his starting XI.

Yet Morrell’s return, plus Thompson’s introduction just after the hour mark against the Shrimps, means Pompey’s midfield could be back to full-strength for the game against Neil Harris’ side.

Pompey play host to Gillingham today in League OnePompey play host to Gillingham today in League One
Pompey play host to Gillingham today in League One

Cowley said: ‘Joe has trained, which is good, so we're hopeful he'll be available come Saturday.’

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Predicted XI: Gavin Bazunu, Hayden Carter, Sean Raggett, Clark Robertson, Connor Ogilvie, Marcus Harness Joe Morrell, Louis Thompson, Ronan Curtis, Michael Jacobs, George Hirst. Subs: Ollie Webber, Liam Vincent, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Shaun Williams, Jay Mingi, Aiden O’Brien, Tyler Walker.

Gillingham team news

Visitors Gillingham could be without Robbie McKenzie and Stuart O’Keefe for the trip to Fratton Park.

Full-back McKenzie suffered ankle ligament damage in the Gills’ goalless draw with Fleetwood on Monday.

Meanwhile, former Pompey midfielder O’Keefe was substituted at half-time in the same game with an unspecified problem.

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Alex MacDonald, Daniel Adshead, Danny Lloyd and Mustapha Carayol are already out through longer-term injuries.

Striker Charlie Kelman is suspended after he saw red against the Cod Army.

Predicted XI: Aaron Chapman, Ryan Jackson, Max Ehmer, Jack Tucker, Conor Mas

terson, David Tutonda, Olly Lee, Stuart O’Keefe, Ben Thompson, Vadaine Oliver, Thomas Dickson-Peters.

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Unused Substitutes: Pontus Dahlberg, Christian Maghoma, Daniel Phillips, Josh Chambers, Ben Reeves, Gerald Sithole, Bailey Akehurst.

What’s been said

Danny Cowley

‘Joe has trained, which is good, so we're hopeful he'll be available come Saturday.

‘We'll always miss Joe's energy, his ability to get on the ball and give us his control, and yeah, he's always going to be a miss for us when he's not available.

‘I think for us, it’s always our responsibility to set our young players up for success.

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‘I totally understand that our supporters would like to see our young players, but it’s for us to put them in a position where they can be successful.’

Neil Harris

‘They (the Cowleys) taught my children I know them very well. They were exceptional PE teachers, with a winning mentality, right up my street!

‘(They are) great characters, infectious, driven, I can’t praise Danny (Portsmouth manager) and Nicky (his assistant) highly enough as men, as friends and as football people. They built it up from Concord Rangers, to go through to Braintree, Lincoln, Huddersfield and now Portsmouth, fair play to them.

‘Danny I speak to a lot, they are really good men.’

Matchday odds (Bet365)

Pompey: 3/4

1-0 5/1, 2-0 13/2, 2-1 15/2, 3-0 12/1, 3-1 14/1, 3-2 28/1

Gillingham: 13/5

1-0 11/1, 2-0 25/1, 2-1 16/1, 3-0 50/1, 3-1 40/1, 3-2 50/1

Draw: 4/1

0-0 15/2, 1-1 6/1, 2-2 18/1, 3-3 66/1

Referee

Darren Drysdale

Key Stats (All competitions)

Pompey

Record this season: P46 W19 D13 L14

League Position: 9th (67 points)

Top goalscorer: Marcus Harness (12)

Most Assists: Ronan Curtis (7)

Discipline: 77 yellow cards, 3 red card

Gillingham

Record this season: P51 W9 D19 L23

League Position: 20th (40 points)

Top goalscorer: Vadaine Oliver (11)

Most Assists: Vadaine Oliver and Robbie McKenzie (both 3)

Discipline: 81 yellow cards, 7 red card

Form guide

Pompey

D 1-1 Morecambe (A) – League One

W 3-2 Lincoln (H) – League One

W 3-0 Rotherham (H) – League One

L 1-0 Cheltenham (A) – League One

D 1-1 Bolton (A) – League One

Gillingham

D 0-0 Fleetwood (H) – League One

D 2-2 Cheltenham (A) – League One

D 1-1 Wycombe (H) – League One

L 1-0 Sunderland (A) – League One

W 2-1 Accrington (A) – League One

Other fixtures (3pm kick-off unless stated)

Accrington Stanley v Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic v Shrewsbury Town, Cheltenham Town v Bolton Wanderers, Crewe Alexandra v Ipswich Town, Doncaster Rovers v Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town v AFC Wimbledon, MK Dons v Morecambe, Rotherham United v Oxford United, Sunderland v Cambridge United, Wigan Athletic v Plymouth Argyle, Wycombe Wanderers v Sheffield Wednesday.