Good evening everyone and welcome to KRBS Priestfield for tonight's game with Oldham Athletic. I would like to extend my welcome to John Sheridan and all those that have made the journey to support Oldham. I hope that we enjoy a great match this evening and that we see an exciting, but fair, game of football.

Last weekend it was disappointing to see us lose, especially to an early free-kick, but it was always going to be hard chasing a game from the third minute. We never really had a chance to settle ourselves, to play our own game and, instead, we had to try and force our way back into the match from that moment of brilliance by their young defender, Daniel Jones. The longer it went on without us getting the equaliser, Northampton looked more comfortable and shut up shop. Adam Miller's shot was a real diamond in the rough and if that went in, then we would have had a completely different game on our hands.

Tonight though, we must try to not concede early on and we must make sure that we play the game our way and control the tempo of the match. If we can do that then there is no reason why we can't take the three points to set us up nicely for Saturday's trip to Walsall. Indeed, Oldham are flying high at the moment but they will undoubtedly have one eye on their FA Cup tie this weekend so we should look to take advantage and take the game to them. It is also important for you, the fans, to create the atmosphere you did on Saturday and really get behind the team. We must make The KRBS Priestfield Stadium a real hostile place for visitors, a place that teams do not want to come to because the crowd noise is so intimidating. I want to hear every song, every scream of vocal support coming from around the stadium so that our players do not feel alone out there. They thrive on your encouragement, so get your voices ready and sing throughout the 90 minutes!

We are now getting towards the end of the transfer window and we have been working hard to secure the services of some new players. With only a short period of time to do any business, we face a difficult final nine days to squeeze through deals that satisfy both parties. Mark and I are constantly on our phones talking to clubs, agents and players but it takes a great deal of patience and I am refusing to panic with the deadline looming. As Mark says in his notes, if there are no new faces on the pitch this evening then we should have something for you by the weekend. It is about finding quality and not just being content with the first players that come to our attention.

I know that it was frustrating to lose against Northampton, but we must remember that we have been through a busy Christmas period and we still have a busy few weeks ahead. In January, as you know, we have four Tuesday night games, as well as the four weekend matches to play, so the window is so important for us to make sure we add depth to the squad. It is vital for us to have players on the bench that are like for like in terms of quality. We need to have players that can replace those on the field and not disrupt the quality of the side. It is difficult, and we will not pretend that it is not, because if talent does become available there are many other teams that enter the frame. However Mark, like me, is not one to suffer fools gladly and we will not pay over the top for players because the selling club gets greedy. We have sat down and discussed what we think is the right price for our targets, and we will not be forced into going back on our valuations. There is still time and I know that we will get the players we are in for but if we don't then there will be other players that will want to come here and do the job because Gillingham is a club pushing in the right direction.

As always, please get right behind the boys tonight.

Up the Gills!

Paul D.P. Scally

Chairman