Gillingham manager Mark Bonner hopes former boss Stephen Clemence is respected when he brings Barrow to Priestfield this Saturday in a top-of-the-table League 2 clash

Gillingham manager Mark Bonner hopes the man he replaced gets the reception he deserves this weekend.

Stephen Clemence was sacked at the end of last season by the Gills and replaced by Bonner, but the bond between managers is strong.

Clemence - whose table-topping Barrow side visit Priestfield this Saturday - was one of the first on the phone to offer any help he could when Bonner was installed as the new manager at Gillingham.

He said: “I spoke to Robbie Stockdale (Gills’ former assistant), Stephen Clemence and (ex-boss) Neil Harris, all about players here and the existing staff that were here.

“When you don't know something, you speak to as many people as you can that can give you a picture, or an idea, of how they worked with players, what worked for them, how they found the club in that moment.

“Stephen was one of a number of people that I spoke to, because I think in the end, you draw your own judgments always but at the same time, if you can get a steer or a head start on one or two, that's helpful, so that certainly was for me.”

Bonner admits he has no idea what reaction there will be to Clemence’s return but hopes it’s positive.

He said: “I have no idea, because my knowledge of Gillingham before being here was very low. I wouldn't have known anything that was going on.

“I'd like to hope (the reception) is really respectful.

“In any club at any time, the manager and the coaching staff at the time are giving everything they've got to try and make it a success, so that deserves complete respect from my point of view every single time, whoever it is, wherever it is.

“I'd expect that would be the outcome but in the end, that isn't the story. The story is two teams playing against each other.

“We want to win, they do