Former Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence brings table-topping Barrow to Priestfield for a League 2 clash

Stephen Clemence insists he doesn’t want Saturday’s game at Gillingham to be about him - in what is a top-of-the-table clash.

Clemence’s Barrow side sit joint on points with the Gills at the top of League 2 after their opening seven games.

“I don’t want the game to be about me at all,” he insisted. “I’m very respectful of Gillingham and I left there on good terms and I have got no animosity towards anyone at the club.

“Nothing would please me more if we were both successful at the end of the season but obviously when I turn up there at the weekend I will be treating it like any other game and I’ll be trying to get three points.”

Clemence was appointed Gillingham head coach in November last year, in what was his first job in the lead role, having been assistant to Steve Bruce for over a decade at several top-level clubs.

His remit was simple, to get the team pushing for promotion, but they fell short, winning 12 of his 34 matches and eventually finishing the season mid-table.

Clemence had hoped to spend the summer rebuilding his team at Gillingham but instead found himself looking for a job, which came quicker than expected.

At the end of May, just four weeks after being sacked from his job at Priestfield, he agreed a two-year deal to manage Barrow, taking with him assistant boss Robbie Stockdale.

Both teams have won five of their openings seven games, collecting 16 points.

He felt his time at the Gills had ended prematurely but heads to Priestfield in a good place. Gillingham’s current boss Mark Bonner has already said he hoped there will be a good reception for their former head coach.

“There is no rivalry between me and Mark,” he said, speaking with BBC Cumbria Sport, before echoing Bonner’s sentiments, saying: “I know