Saturday 4th August - k.o. 15:00

League Division Two

Venue: Gigg Lane

Gills Recent League Form - last 6 matches

Bury’s Recent League Form - last 6 matches

Gills assistant manager, Ian Hendon (right) felt Gills were unfortunate after the Shrimper’s manager son, Blair Sturrock, dispatched his sudden-death penalty and sent Southend through to the next round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The game was not the best advert for entertaining football but the Gills had the better of the chances and maybe should have sealed the win in the 90 minutes before the need for the penalty shoot-out.

The match had to turn to the shoot-out decider to separate the two teams following a goalless 90 minutes and the teams were locked at 3-3 after two misses apiece following five spot-kicks.

Ian Hendon commented, "It was disappointing to lose on penalties as collectively the lads put in a shift and worked their socks off, and as long as they continue to do that then the results will turn and we will get that elusive away win”.

Ian continued, "They went close in the first half when Lance Cronin comfortably tipped a shot over the bar and in the second half he made a save down by his left, but away from home he has only had two things to do. He also saved two of their penalties”.

Reflecting on Gills performance Ian said, "A win is good for morale, so now we have to keep the lads' heads up. The performance was there and the work rate was there, and if they put a shift in like that then they will win, and God help the team on the end of it.

Looking forward to the Bury game Ian said, "We are positive because its another away performance where we have given better than we have received but Lady Luck was not with us." Further bad news followed about strikers Cody McDonald and Andy Barcham.

Striker Cody McDonald (left) and the influential Andy Barcham worryingly picked up injuries during the Southend game within minutes of each other and in Andy’s case it was only five minutes from his appearance as substitute.

Andy played on for the remainder of the game but was in some discomfort and had to be helped down the tunnel at the end of the game. Today (Thursday) the Club has said Andy will be out for at least two weeks with an ankle injury.

Cody McDonald, who still looked some games from full match fitness although showing some nice touches, was substituted and he hobbled off with an ankle injury. News from the Club is that Cody is considered 50/50 for the Bury game and a late decision will be made.

Bury manager Alan Knill (pictured left) while relatively pleased with his team’s three-match unbeaten run, admitted, “We could be a lot better off than we are”.

“We should have won 1-0 at home to Northampton and we should have walked away from Barnet with a 1-0 score line as well”.

Knill continued, “We are doing o.k. but it won’t be until the first ten games or so when you will see who is going to be up there. However, we should have had three points from the Barnet game”.

At Underhill the Shakers had taken the lead against the run of play when Ryan Lowe burst through to hammer home his second of the season in off the post. Barnet got  share of the points through Mark Marshall’s 25 yard free-kick.

Alan Knill commented, "It wasn't a particularly good game of football and was a bit pedestrian from both sides and then we gave away a free-kick, it goes through the wall and costs us two points”.

Obviously frustrated Knill continued, "“It was a dubious free-kick but If you stand there and let it hit you they don’t score and we get three points. I've got young players and it's a learning time for them and that was a big learning curve”.

Alan Knill has now warned Bury to be less charitable if they want to become League Two promotion candidates - starting with the Gills visit.

Leading up to Tuesday’s transfer deadline manager Knill also revealed there had been interest from an unnamed South African club for striker Andy Bishop (right) but nothing became of the enquiries.

Andy has been prolific in front of goal and something of a cult hero to Bury fans, though the last 18 months have been something of an injury nightmare for the player.

Could be a bigger than usual crowd at the game as Bury are offering £5 entrance tickets in an attempt to help grow the current 'Shakers Membership' total. Marketing Manager Laura Sherratt has announced that anyone signing up for membership before Friday can watch Bury v Gills for just £5.

Manager: Alan Knill (Record to date: P126 W54 D34 L38).

Nickname: The Shakers

Colours: Home –White & Blue. Away – Red & White.

Ground: Gigg Lane Stadium.

Capacity: 11,840.

What’s it like for Gills fans?

Gills fans will be in the Manchester Road End (West Stand), with seating for 2,800. Facilities at Gigg Lane are very good. For away fans, there's room for 6 wheelchairs and helpers in the Manchester Road Stand. For the Blind fans there are 12 seats in the Main Stand family section complete with headphones for hospital radio commentary. Programme is £3.

The pies are warm(ish), the pastry crusty and the filling very grey. That said, fans liked them: `Slightly spicy and very good,' said one. The pasties also got the thumbs-up, but the tea and coffee were, wrote an Ipswich fan: `Typical football fare. In other words, weak, uninteresting and expensive'.  The Chicken Balti Pies are to die for.

The Bury Football Club Sports Bar welcomes visiting fans both before and after the match as long as it's not too busy, charging £1 for non-members. There's a bar serving food, a large-screen TV and a separate children's area.

The Swan & Cemetery pub in Manchester Road, caters for all tastes, including special Match day Menus. Very friendly to away supporters and highly recommended. Large car park and spacious interior. This pub is situated past the ground (if you are coming from the town center) approx 300 yards past Gigg Lane. Open all day from noon.

Transfers in: Peter Sweeney from Grimsby – free, Andy Haworth from Blackburn – free, Kyle Bennett from Wolves – free, Phil Picken from Chesterfield – free, Damien Mozika from Tarbiat Yazd – free, Joe Skarz from Huddersfield – free, Steven Schumacher from Crewe – free, Lenell John-Lewis from Lincoln – free.

Loans in: Tom Lees from Leeds.

Transfers out: Ryan Cresswell to Rotherham - £67,500, Stephen Dawson to Leyton Orient – free, Andy Morrell to Wrexham – free, Richie Baker to Oxford – free, Paul Scott to Morecambe – free, Brian Barry-Murphy to Rochdale – free, Tom Newey to Rotherham – free, Wayne Brown to SuperSport United – free, David Buchanan to Hamilton Academical – free, Damien Allen to Colwyn Bay - free

Loans out: None.

Released: Andrai Jones,Richie Branagan, Luke McCarthy, Danny Racchi, David Thompson.

We've met forty-eight times in competitive League and Cup action. Our first clash was in the 1963/64 season in a League Cup game at Priestfield with Gills winning 3-0. The very first League games between the two clubs was in the Old Third Division with Gills winning 2-0 at home but Bury won the reserve fixture 3-2 at Gigg Lane.

We last met in the League in the 2008/09 season in League Two when the Shakers managed four points out of the six against us – 4-0 at Gigg Lane and 0-0 at Priestfield. Gills did however manage a F.A. Cup win 1-0 at Gigg Lane in the same season to gain some revenge.

The overall record reads: Gills wins – 19, Bury wins - 20, draws - 9.

•  Best win: 21-1 v. Thornaby-on-Tees 02/02/1897 – F.A. Cup

•  Worst defeat: 0-10 v. West Ham 25/10/1983 – League Cup

•  Best attendance: 35,000 (Gigg Lane) v. Bolton 09/01/1960 – F.A. Cup 3rd round

•  Biggest transfer fee received: £1,355,000 for Dean Kiely from Charlton – May 1999

•  Biggest transfer fee paid: £252,000 for Chris Swailes to Ipswich Town – Nov 1997

Cody McDonald is only 50/50 and Andy Barcham is definitely out. Mark McCammon, midfielder Jack Payne (pictured right) and defender Barry Fuller are available this weekend. All three spent valuable minutes on the pitch against Southend on Tuesday night but midfielder Curtis Weston (thigh) is out for a further two weeks.

‘Keeper Alan Julian has a fractured bone in his hand and out for a further week at least. So former Ebbsfleet ‘keeper Lance Cronin, who has been proving an excellent deputy will continue.

Midfielder Danny Jackman (knee) is expected to be back in training next week, while striker Dennis Oli (hamstring) and centre-back Garry Richards (ankle) should both be back in contention middle of September.

Gills eleven from (4-4-2): Lance Cronin (GK), John Nutter, Barry Fuller, Josh Gowling, Matt Lawrence, Tony Sinclair, Nicky Southall, Jack Payne, Kevin Maher, Danny Spiller, Luke Rooney, Chris Palmer, Mark Bentley, Mark McCammon, Cody McDonald, Adebayo Akinfenwa and Connor Essam.

Bury turned down a bid for an unnamed player because it fell way short of their valuation while manager Alan Knill also rubbished rumours linking Andy Bishop with a move to South Africa.

Alan told the Club’s official site “I am delighted that nobody has left because it would be disruptive.”Bury also have no injury worries ahead of the weekend.

Alan continued, “I’ve spent all summer working hard to put this squad together and it usually means you’re losing one of your best players if a bid comes in. I’m happy with my squad now but if something did turn up I would look into strengthening the squad.”

West Yorkshire referee Jon Moss will take charge of the game at Gigg Lane on Saturday.

Jon is a Head teacher in a West Yorkshire primary school and started refereeing in 1988, spending a long time in local and Supply League football before reaching level three in 2001.

Thereafter he was double-jumped to level two and the National List of assistant referees in 2003. After two more years he was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2005 and has refereed a Conference Play Off Final and also an England U-19 friendly game.

Gills fans have only had the pleasure of Jonathan in the middle for two games in six seasons. The first was the 2-2 draw at Brentford in October 2006 in which Moss sent off Bees keeper Clark Masters but Gills failed to make the extra man count for the win.

The second time was last season at Priestfield for the Charlton derby match that finished 1-1. Picture of Jon in that Charlton game picking up a lose beach ball that was thrown from the Rainham End and was bouncing away on the Priestfield pitch.

This season so far Jon Moss has officiated at four fixtures, two in the Championship, one at League One level, and the Carling Cup Second Round tie between Blackburn and Norwich City. Jon is not backward at issuing the dreaded red card this season as he sent-off Claude Davis of Crystal Palace, Andros Townsend of Ipswich and also dismissed Carl Baker of Coventry.

His assistants are P, Davies and T, Harrington and the Fourth Official is P. T. Kettlewell.

Shakers eleven from (4-4-2): Cameron Belford (pictured above left GK), Ritchie Branagan (GK), Efe Sodje, Tom Lees, Benjamin Futcher, Phil Picken, Joe Skarz, Michael Jones, David Worrall, Peter Sweeney, Steven Schumacher, Andy Haworth, Ryan Lowe, Andy Bishop, Lenell John-Lewis, Danny Carlton, Kyle Bennett, Max Harrop, Khristan Patel, Damien Mozika.