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Gillingham midfielder Mark Bentley writes exclusively for the KM Group

Barnet v Gillingham
Barnet v Gillingham

Gillingham haven't lined up for a game in two weeks. Picture: Barry Goodwin

Hopefully we’ve seen the back of the snow for a while now and can look forward to picking up from where we left off a couple of weeks ago.

The snow that hit Kent was unbelievable and when we did eventually make it back to training it was a lot of fun watching the lads with automatic cars wheel-spinning their way outside the ground, with everyone pulling together to push the cars out of the snow.

You would have thought that if you forked out all that money for a flash car it should be able to cope with a bit of snow!

Snow
Snow

Luckily the gaffer has a social club five minutes down the road with indoor facilities where the lads have been enjoying playing mini-tournaments and of course being out of the cold.

I believe there was an eventful snowball fight afterwards with the gaffer taking the brunt of the hits.

Fortunately the snow has slowly thawed out, so we have managed to get back on the training ground and back to a more familiar routine, and preparing well for a tough trip to Macclesfield tomorrow (Saturday).

After winning our last two away games we should now have the confidence to go to places like Macclesfield and picking up another three points.

No disrespect to them, but we need to be beating teams like that if we are going to push for a play-off place.

It’s a type of ground though where you need to roll up your sleeves and match the opposition’s work rate. It’s not the most desirable place to go and play, with tiny changing rooms and a pitch that in the past has not been great to try and play on.

I remember we put on the kind of performance needed a couple of seasons ago where we ground out a 1-0 win. A similar effort will be needed and with the squad on the start of a good run at the moment I’m confident we will get a result.

I’m led to believe that they have been doing some boxing training in preparation for the game. This is quite common among footballers in training now and is probably one of the hardest endurance exercises we do.

If the gloves come off I’m pretty sure we could hold our own with a few of us looking like we could pack a punch. But of course we will be letting the ball do the talking!

Andy Barcham
Andy Barcham

On the injury front, Kingy, Garry Richards and Barchy (pictured) have all been joining in training and are looking stronger every day.

With a few lads coming back unfortunately one more has joined the gloomy world of the cold gym, with Chris Palmer picking up a knock in training. It’s really disappointing for him as he has been in good form this season, but hopefully he won’t be out too long.

For me personally, I started jogging again this week and had no reaction to the injury so hopefully I can build up my training and the impact work on my foot. Fingers crossed I can rejoin the squad next week.

OUTSIDE of Gillingham there were some very strange decisions made in the footballing world.

Russia
Russia

I have always fancied going to watch England in the World Cup, but Russia? No thanks!

The other strange decision was Chris Hughton’s sacking at Newcastle. He has worked miracles at turning that club around and you hear nothing but positive things about him.

Apparently they want a more experienced person in there, but he has been coaching at the highest level for a long time and worked alongside some good managers. What more could he have done while in charge?

Just because they have a good fan-base it doesn’t make them a great team and they are way off competing for honours like they did a few years back. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them very close to relegation come the end of the season.

Tottenham
Tottenham

FINALLY, what a great week for Spurs winning their group in the Champions League, something that didn’t go down too well with John Nutter, who offered me very tempting odds that they wouldn’t even get through the group stages. So thanks for the new pair of trainers John.

Mark.

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