Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence puts friendship with AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson to one side for League 2 match at Plough Lane

Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence has played down coming up against friend Johnnie Jackson at AFC Wimbledon.

Clemence and Jackson are in charge of the respective play-off chasing League 2 sides, as they lock horns at Plough Lane tonight (kick-off 7.45pm) with only one point and one place separating seventh-placed Gills and the hosts.

But friendships will be put to one side once the competitive action starts.

On facing Jackson, Clemence said: “It doesn’t make any difference to me. I’ll be going there to try and win, he will be trying to beat me. It is what it is.

“Obviously, there’s all these things that go on in football where relationships cross and where you come across old colleagues or friends. But, once you cross that white line, it’s about trying to get three points.

“I’ll be trying to do my best for Gillingham.”

Both began their football careers at Tottenham although, with Clemence four years older than Jackson, they didn’t often cross paths in those early days together in London.

Report: Gillingham 1-1 Tranmere

“It’ll mean something more to me”

“I trained with him a little bit,” the 45-year-old Gills head coach revealed. “I never trained in the first team with him because I was a little bit ahead of him.

“But I definitely played reserve football with him when he was coming through. We’re good friends.

“I went to the Liverpool v Chelsea game for the League Cup Final, and he was there. I bumped into him and we had a chat.

“He’s a friend.”

While a 1-1 weekend draw against Tranmere at Priestfield extended the Gills’ unbeaten home league record to seven fixtures, they have been beaten in three of seven games on the road in 2024.

But Clemence insisted: “I don’t think we have been too bad away from home