The Hat-Trick: 3 burning questions ahead of Gillingham v Tranmere Rovers

James Brophy's brilliant brace – including THAT solo goal – plus goals from Omar Beckles and Lamin Sillah helped Gareth Ainsworth's men to their first win of the season. Now they face arguably their sternest test so far as undefeated Tranmere Rovers come to Priestfield.

Here are three pre-match questions we hope to get answered by 5pm on Saturday afternoon.

Following Gillingham's two Deadline Day moves, it feels like Gareth Ainsworth is looking to upgrade things in the midfield engine room, and we could see a new-look lineup in that area of the pitch on Saturday.

Robbie McKenzie has given his all for the cause, as he always does, but he's looked far from 100 percent fit and could do with a rest to get himself back to full fitness. That was seemingly Ainsworth's approach at Rochdale when Deadline Day loanee Zech Obiero started ahead of McKenzie in the middle of midfield.

But, when the Leyton Orient man went down with what looked like a nasty hamstring injury after only a quarter of an hour at Spotland, Ainsworth turned to his other Deadline Day acquisition, Eli King, who came on and immediately showed the sort of quality that can elevate Gillingham's play in the middle of the park.

Fitness permitting, King may well get his first Gills start on Saturday, but the big question is who will play alongside him? Cameron Antwi is still playing himself back into full match fitness and could do a job for an hour, while the aforementioned McKenzie hasn't looked his usual self in the last couple of games. Zane Albarus has been absent from the team for the last couple of games, with some rumours suggesting he'll be out for a while, while others point to him being back as early as this weekend.

On paper, a midfield pairing of King and Albarus looks like the perfect match, but we'll see who's available for selection come Saturday.

Perhaps the biggest selection dilemma for Ainsworth this weekend is over who to start at the back. After a wobble on opening day, the trio of Andy Smith, Omar Beckles and Logan Dobbs has fared pretty well since, with Beckles emerging as the defensive leader the team so desperately needed following the untimely injury of skipper Liam Gordon 25 minutes into the first game of the campaign.

Dobbs has deputised admirably on the left of the defensive trio, but the arrival of naturally left-sided centre back Jack Daley on loan from Middlesbrough now offers Ainsworth another option in that position. It's unlikely Daley will have made the loan move all the way down from Teesside to Kent just to sit on the bench at a League Two club, so you'd have to imagine he's been told that he's going to get some extensive game time. The question is, will that first Gills start come on Saturday? And if it does, who makes way?

If you go like-for-like, then Dobbs could be rested to allow Daley into the starting XI. But there's also the option for Smith to potentially drop to the bench, with Dobbs moving across to his more natural right-sided role. The smart money is on the younger Dobbs eventually making way, with Smith's greater senior experience keeping him in the side. For the first time in a long time, Ainsworth has options, and that can only be a good thing.

Gillingham's resounding victory against Rochdale will have boosted confidence around the club, with the team hitting four goals in a game for the first time since August last year. Now Ainsworth has challenged his side to keep that momentum rolling.

Tranmere are unbeaten, and defeated Oldham 2-0 at home last weekend. Most notably, they did it after soaking up a lot of pressure in a game that saw their opponents have 22 efforts on goal without scoring. Ainsworth will want to apply similar pressure to Darrell Clarke's side, but with the addition of an end-product, as he looks to lead his side to their first home win of the season.

Claiming back-to-back league wins, with the latest coming against an unbeaten opponent, would be a major fillip for Ainsworth's side, which has shown positive signs in different aspects of their performances before things really started to click against Rochdale. If they click again at Priestfield, the feel-good factor could quickly return to ME7.

PODCAST – VOICE NOTES: ROCHDALE 1-4 GILLINGHAM
Listen back as Gills fans shared their reactions as a remarkable away day unfolded at Spotland as Gillingham ran out emphatic 4-1 winners, with that man James Brophy scoring two stunners to help Gareth Ainsworth's men to their first win of the season.

BROPHY'S BARNES-ESQUE WONDERGOAL
The fans, and boss Gareth Ainsworth, were absolutely purring over Brophy's stunning solo goal, which had remarkable similarities to John Barnes' iconic solo finish against Brazil 42 years ago.

PODCAST – BLOOD, SWEAT & GILLS
Simon and Matt chat over the big talking points of the weekend as Gillingham get their first win of the season.

SIMON HEAD: WONDERGOAL BROUGHT EVERYTHING TOGETHER FOR GILLS
The fans were gushing over James Brophy's incredible solo strike against Rochdale, but what happened immediately after will have given boss Gareth Ainsworth even more cause for optimism.

GILLS' SQUAD - THEN AND NOW
With Gillingham's summer transfer business all done and dusted, we look back at one of the busiest transfer windows in the club's history to see what we have now, compared to what we had before last season came to a close.

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