The Official Chesterfield Match Thread (Sponsored by the 5th September 1987 "for all your record-breaking needs")

Following our last-gasp point at Tranmere on Saturday it's back at home for a game under the lights as we welcome 2nd-placed Chesterfield to Priestfield.

As Gills were simultaneously winning zero plaudits for their style of play on the Wirral and extending our unbeaten run under GA, Paul Cook's pre-season promotion candidates were winning their third league game in a row and subjecting opponents Bristol Rovers to their third straight defeat, two late goals earning the Spireites the points in a 3-1 home win.

It's been an excellent start to the season for the Derbyshire side in only their second campaign back in the Football League following their play-off failure in May. An already solid squad (Fleck, Dobra, Grigg, McFadzean) has been strengthened in the window with the likes of Dilan Markanday from Blackburn, Northern Irish international striker Lee Bonis from ADO Den Haag and 'keeper Zach Hemming, a £150,000 buy from Middlesbrough. It's no surprise, therefore, that the Spireites sit joint top of the table with an enviable defensive record, just as they did on their visit in the late summer of 1987...

Hazarding a guess at our line-up tonight is going to be made even harder than just understanding GA's capricious nature, with an increasing number of injuries and Max Clark's unfortunate one-match suspension for a late second booking on Saturday. Masterson is definitely out, Ogie could well be out too and Coleman could also be out after departing early against Tranmere with a nasty cut to the head. Seb Palmer-Houlden and Sam Vokes may or may not actually exist at this point, I'm no longer sure. One player who did make a welcome return last time out was Aaron Rowe, playing the last ten minutes or so as a late sub. Whatever side we can bodge together tonight, especially at the back, is going to have to play to their very best to keep GA's long unbeaten run going.

Gills lead in the head to head by 31 wins to 23, with just 18 draws since the first meeting of the sides in 1961. Oddly, we seem to have a healthy lead in the goalscoring stakes, I can't think what might have caused that stat, although not playing Chessie in our recent barren years has probably helped maintain it. It would be easy just to bung up the footage of the record-breaking 10-0 win in September 1987 every time we play this lot, but that would just be boring, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it?

Ahem, now that obligation has been duly completed, I'll throw in one more set of highlights, a 3-0 home win in October 1989 that was also record-breaking as Ron Hillyard become our all-time appearance maker in his 618th match. I suspect there's also not too many games where we have scored in the 44th, 45th and 46th minutes of a game, so yeah, add that in as a record too. As an aside, I think we should return to the days where players turned up to games in a suit, far more sartorially elegant than the current trackies, headphones and Louis Vuitton washbag look.

Barring a late flurry of ticket sales, we might be looking at around 6,000 in attendance for the game tonight. There's roughly 2000 tickets available in home sections of Priestfield, with just under 250 remaining for the Rainham End. Chesterfield, despite being joint top, will likely see their away turnout limited by the 3.5 hour, 190 mile journey. We took 340 to them on our rearranged Tuesday night fixture back in April, I suspect their positive start and a few London-based Spireites might see them at around the 400 mark, although they only managed 330 on a Saturday last season when they lost 1-0, also in late summer...hmmm.

This one will be an interesting marker of where we are, especially given the pressures on the squad. A positive result will keep the momentum going into Saturday's visit of the other side joint top of the table, Crewe. Strangely, and although the omens seem to be aligned, I don't anticipate another 10-0 win for us tonight. I'd happily take another scuffed dribbler of a goal and a resolute defensive performance to give us a 1-0 win that has Chesterfield fans bemoaning us the worst professional side to ever grace the game. It's nice being hated again.

Enjoy the game and...

COYG!!!