The Hat-Trick: Can Gills bounce back at home?

The opposition comes in the form of Newport County, who came close to beating the Gills at Priestfield last season, but two stoppage-time goals from Armani Little and Garath McCleary saw Ainsworth's side claim a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. It's also worth noting the identity of Newport's scoring goalscorer of the day, a certain Cameron Antwi. I wonder what happened to him...?

As we get set for Saturday's game, here's a hat-trick of burning questions we hope to get answered during the 90 minutes at Priestfield this weekend...

That's the crucial question ahead of this weekend, as we look to rebound from our defeat at York. Some might point out that we bounced back after our 3-0 home reverse to Walsall, but that came after a game where we looked the better side for 80 minutes. That certainly wasn't the case at York, where we were a distant second for much of the game.

So this weekend isn't just about getting the result, it's about the performance. Ainsworth will be looking for a reaction from his players and, based on what we've seen from the side so far this season, it looks far more likely that we'll get one from this year's squad.

If they can grab themselves a victory, and a strong performance, that would put the Gillingham train right back on the rails again, and set us up nicely for a busy run of fixtures in October. Back-to-back defeats will bring out the boo boys, many of whom had been noticeably absent on social media until Gillingham's defeat at the weekend. Fingers crossed they'll be silent again, or better still, actually praising the team, if we get the three points on Saturday.

The return to Priestfield of Tom Eaves seems well-timed and much-needed, with the former two-time Gillingham FC top scorer rejoining the club some seven years after he departed for Hull City. Eaves is now 34, so it's quite possible that his pace has slowed, and his movement might not be as we all remember. But he's a big, strong centre-forward who has all the qualities we need from a target man. Plus, he knows where the net is, and he has a happy knack of scoring at Priestfield – 40 goals in 97 games is a pretty decent return.

Gareth Ainsworth has suggested that Eaves is "fit, but not match fit" ahead of this weekend, but it would come as no surprise to see him out there on the pitch at some point on Saturday – either from the start, or coming off the bench late on to cause some havoc. But with Ainsworth understandably wary of playing someone too early and seeing them pick up an injury, there's a reasonable chance he may keep his powder dry for now and leave him on the bench and give him another week to get ready.But if the clock is ticking down and we need a goal, that theory could very quickly go out of the window...

With Conor McManus still away on international duty, James Brophy has been deputising at left wing-back, and doing a fine job of it, too. However, the loss from midfield of our one real ball-playing talent in Eli King means we could really do with someone in the middle of the park who's comfortable on the ball. Based on what we've seen so far this season, Brophy should be at the top of the list.

If Ainsworth did move him back inside, we'd need a different solution wide on the left. Garath McCleary could potentially play there as an attacking wing-back, or if he wanted to go more defensive, he has the option of Jack Daley, who could occupy that role.

Ainsworth is still a fair few players down, thanks to the remarkable – and thoroughly frustrating – injury epidemic at the club, yet he still has plenty of opportunities to mull over before he names his starting XI on Saturday afternoon.How would you line up the Gills' starting XI on Saturday? Tweet us (yes, we're still calling it that) @Gills365 with the hashtag #MyGillsXI to let us know who you'd pick, and what formation you'd play them in.

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