Portsmouth v Gillingham

STAN TERNENT is hoping the magic of the cup will pull a rabbit out of the hat for Gillingham at Portsmouth on Staurday.

The Gills take on the Premiership side in the third round of the FA Cup at Fratton Park and Ternent has his fingers crossed that they can get a good result.

Injury problems and the furious battle for survival in the Championship could have lessened the importance of the cup for Gillingham - but Ternent is having none of it.

He said: "I think there’s a special magic about the FA Cup that means you have to take it seriously. I can’t put my finger on it but there’s always something exciting about the third round. It will be a smashing day out for the fans and we need to give them a performance to be proud of.

"The players are excited, too. Everyone wants to test themselves against the best and playing against a Premiership side will give them the chance to do just that."

Ternent has had a good time of things as a manager in the FA Cup over the past two seasons.

Two years ago he made it to the quarter-finals with Burnley before losing to Watford and last season a 3-1 victory over Gillingham helped the Clarets to the fifth round before they lost 1-0 to eventual finalists Millwall.

He said: "I’ve enjoyed my time in the cup recently. Last season, with Millwall getting all the way to the final, showed you that anything can happen.

"The cup is all about getting it right for 90 minutes on the day. If you can string together some good performances and get a good draw then who knows what can happen?

"And a good cup run could help boost our league campaign, too. The extra finances could mean the chairman has some extra cash to help us get two or three players in.

"We’re on a good run in the league and have only lost once in five games, so hopefully we can take that form into the cup. It won’t do anyone’s confidence any good if we go and lose 5-0.

"We want a win or a draw so we can be in the hat for the fourth round draw and keep the excitement going."

Ternent will have to do without a number of players for the trip to Portsmouth as his injury list grows. Mamady Sidibe is out for two months with an Achilles injury, while Nayron Nosworthy should be sidelined for up to a month with a broken bone in his foot.

Alan Pouton (ankle) and John Hills (thigh) are both doubtful, while Matt Jarvis is expected to be missing for four weeks after undergoing a hernia operation on Wednesday.

But Chris Hope could make a return to the line-up after recovering from an ankle knock picked up at Brighton on Boxing Day.