Preview: Gillingham head to The Valley to play Charlton Athletic in League 1 clash; victory will lift Neil Harris' men out of the bottom four

Gillingham know victory at Charlton on Tuesday night would lift them clear of the drop zone and drag their near-neighbours a little closer to trouble.

The Addicks are on a terrible run, with just one point from their last seven League 1 games, the kind of form that led to the Gills getting into trouble under former boss Steve Evans. Gillingham have turned it around under Neil Harris and survival is now a real possibility.

It’s another huge game for the Gills, who are now only in the bottom four on goal difference. The team directly above them, Wimbledon, are not in action on Tuesday and can now be leapfrogged.

“We are right back in the mix,” said Harris, who has seen the gap to safety cut from 10 points to none since taking charge nine games ago.

“We have got ourselves level points with teams above us and that’s testament to the players.

“Charlton are not a million miles infront of us at the moment, like Lincoln weren’t when we went there (and won), so it is an opportunity to gain points again.

“It’s a difficult fixture, a big club, a big fan-base, massive budget, they have under-performed, it is up to us to make it uncomfortable for them and cause an upset.”

Charlton are just seven points above Gillingham and looking over their shoulder. On Saturday at Accrington their surrendered an early lead and were beaten 2-1.

Harris will be focussing on his own team, one that battled to a weekend win at Doncaster, but constant injuries aren’t making his job very easy.

He said: “We just have to win games of football. We focus on Charlton now and will see who is fit. We won’t be adding to the group personnel wise, if we lose two players (from the weekend) we will have four subs on Tuesday, that will be us, we just get on with it.

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