Gillingham boss ready to rock Dons’ promotion hopes

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth’s affinity to AFC Wimbledon will be put to one side on Monday. The Dons are in the mix for the play-offs, and automatic promotion isn’t out of the question either, but a defeat for them could damage their hopes of achieving either aim. Ainsworth played a handful of Premiership games for the original Wimbledon after a £2m move to them in October 1998 - including a brace and a last-minute equaliser in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Newcastle’s St James’ Park - and although injury blighted his time there, he remains a proud ex-Don.

“It’s a special club, absolutely,” said the Gills boss. “It's the true Wimbledon, this one. That was my Premier League years, an absolute privilege, and I loved every minute of it.



“To see them rise back from the flames like they've done and have such a success, it proves that it can be done. It can be done the right way. AFC Wimbledon is as close as you get to the Wimbledon I played for.

“It will be a pleasure to welcome them, but I'm hoping they're not too happy with me at the end of the game because we've beaten them. “I know it's going to be a full house. I think there's probably going to be a couple of thousand Wimbledon fans making that trip because it means so much to them.

“It's going to be a tough game. But at home we've been very good lately and I want to try and recreate some more of that in those performances and see what we come up against as one of the division's top teams.” League 2 table The Gills are six unbeaten under Ainsworth, extending Gillingham’s overall record without a loss in League 2 to nine games.

They beat MK Dons 1-0 last time out at Priestfield thanks to Bradley Dack’s late winner. Ainsworth’s side picked up a point on Friday at Cheltenham, drawing 1-1. The manager said: “That's a good point away from home and we’ve a big game on Monday now.

We've got to recover. “We've got to get right now because this is a huge game. “I think Wimbledon can both drop out of the play-offs and get automatic promotion.

It's all over the place at the top there I'm glad we're not involved at the moment! We'll be there one day, I'm sure. “The next three games against Wimbledon, Swindon and Port Vale are all huge games. I know how much they mean to the fans.

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