Gillingham v Crawley Town preview: Reds to get reacquainted with old favourites at second-from-bottom Gills

After a torrid first half of the season, new owner in Brad Galinson has injected some life into the Gills and they now appear to be looking up the table.

The sides go into the game separated by just four points and three places. Crawley occupy 20th in League Two, while Gillingham sit second-from-bottom.

Despite their respective league standings, the Reds have the greater relegation worries. A smart January window has really improved Gillingham, and they’ve picked up two wins and a draw in their last three games.

The acquisitions of Oliver Hawkins, Timothee Dieng, Conor Masterson, and Crawley old boys Glenn Morris and Tom Nichols have been a huge boost to Gillingham. A pair of 2-0 wins over Colchester United and Hartlepool United were followed by a 3-3 draw at Swindon Town last week.

The decision to let Nichols and Morris swap Sussex for Kent was baffling and disappointing to all Crawley fans – and it’s easy to see why. Crawley have directly strengthened a relegation rival by giving them two of their best players.

Since Nichols was declared ‘too old and too short’ to play for Crawley, he has scored three goals in three games for Gillingham, two of which were headers.

New Reds boss Scott Lindsey got off to the perfect start on the pitch last week with a 3-2 win over Salford City. However, the unrest towards owners WAGMI United won’t be changed by that, and a big travelling Crawley contingents will certainly make their voices heard at Priestfield Stadium.