Southend United manager Mark Moseley will take charge of his first competitive Shrimpers game this weekend when his team take on Gillingham in the first round of this season’s Carabao Cup.
Moseley, 39, takes over from Sol Campbell following the side's relegation to League Two, and will be hoping he can get his new team's 2020/21 season off to a positive start on Saturday.
182 days have passed since either team played a competitive game, but football is now back.
Team news
Brandon Hanlan is unavailable for selection for Gillingham after “he turned down the latest in a number of offers to him”. He is yet to sign a new deal, so despite the fact he has been training and playing with the Gills in pre-season, he cannot play on Saturday.
Gillingham have 18 professionals on their books at the minute. They are awaiting international clearance on Chris Maghoma, which should arrive in time for the game, and Jordan Graham may miss out with a groin injury, but Steve Evans otherwise has a fully fit squad to choose from.
Southend have a bit of an injury crisis. Nathan Ralph (shoulder) and Tom Clifford (thigh) are both ruled out, whilst it is likely the game will come too early for Timothee Dieng (calf), Harry Lennon (calf) and Jason Demetriou (knee).
Defender Harry Kyprianou and forward Stephen Humphrys are fit again after injury and illness respectively, although it has been reported that Humpreys has handed in a transfer request.
Predicted lineups
Gillingham (possible 4-3-3): Bonham - Jackson, Tucker, Medley, Ogilvie - Mellis, O’Keefe, Dempsey - Coyle, Akinde, Oliver.
Southend (possible 4-4-2): Oxley - Bwomono, White, Mitchell-Nelson, Clifford - Egbri, Gard, Hutchinson, Green - Kelman, Goodship.
Ones to watch
Kyle Dempsey has perhaps been the signing of Gillingham’s summer and he will be one to keep an eye on all season in League One. The versatile midfielder had been linked with a Championship move, but Steve Evans managed to persuade him to sign at Priestfield and he looks likely to take the captain’s armband too.
After losing last season’s captain Max Ehmer and veteran Barry Fuller during the summer, it will be interesting to see how Gillingham’s new, inexperienced back line gets on this season. It seems likely that Jack Tucker (20) and Zech Medley (20) will be the first-choice centre back pairing going into the new campaign, but expect Chris Maghoma (22) to push them all the way.
Summer signing Jordan Green is expected to make his debut out wide for Southend. The Barnsley loanee is one of the United's signings of the summer and is expected to play a key role in Mark Molesley’s team tduring his six-month loan deal.
🙌 Welcome to #Blues, 𝗝𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻!
— Southend United (@SUFCRootsHall) August 20, 2020
✍️ The winger has joined on a six-month loan from Barnsley!
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If Humphreys doesn’t play, Charlie Kelman could get his chance upfront. The 18-year-old scored eight goals in 30 games last season, including a brace in the first round of last year’s Carabao Cup in a 2-1 win at Stevenage. The youngster put in some impressive performances during the campaign and will hope to improve further this season.
Previous meetings
Gillingham did the double over Southend last season during a campaign the Shrimpers will want to forget quickly. The Gills won 3-1 at Priestfield back in October thanks to goals from Alfie Jones, Stuart O’Keefe and Brandon Hanlan, with Simon Cox netting for Southend before Emile Acquah saw red late on.
The game at Roots Hall was closer, but Gillingham ran out 1-0 victors following a Connor Ogilvie header.
In total the teams have crossed paths 119 times with Gillingham winning 48 of the clashes compared to Southend’s 41. There have been 30 draws.
Where to watch on TV
The game is not available to watch on TV, but fans can pay a fee of £10 to watch the match on iFollow.
Kick-off is scheduled for 13:00 BST.
What the managers have said
Gillingham boss Steve Evans was feeling cautious but positive about the game when speaking to KentSportsNews earlier this week.
He said: “From our point of view, it is not as though we will loss prize money if we are not successful, but we will host Southend and we will take no risks with any players who might be feeling anything whilst still being as competitive as we can and trying to win.
“It is important that we get used to the surroundings again as we have many new players. We had to get new bodies in - we had low numbers after some players chose to leave, and of course the loan players that we had went back to their parent clubs.”
Meanwhile, new Southend boss Mark Molesley was excited to get going in his new role when speaking to the club website this week.
He said: "I am very excited. It is a very proud moment for me and my staff to lead the team and one we are thoroughly looking forward to.
"It is competitive football right away and we go into every game wanting to win. We have got to make sure we are as professional as we can be, prepare the best we can and look after what we can.
"We will always do our due diligence and give the other team the respect they deserve, none more so than Gillingham who are a very good side. They have very experienced management, so it is going to be a tough challenge.”