Gillingham boss Neil Harris says mid-table Cheltenham Town will be dangerous opponents to face.

Harris' men, who are battling to avoid relegation, head to Cheltenham for a Good Friday fixture. The hosts were champions of League 2 last season and have had their best ever season in the third-tier. The Gills manager knows a team without pressure of promotion or relegation can be unpredictable.

Cheltenham beat Portsmouth - a team who were on a last-gasp attempt to reach the play-offs - 1-0 last time out but conceded four goals in each of their previous two matches.

Gillingham are in the bottom four of League 1 on goal difference and this weekend is going to be huge.

They follow up their Good Friday fixture with a home match against fellow relegation candidates Fleetwood Town on Easter Monday.

Looking ahead to tomorrow (Friday) and Cheltenham, Harris said: “Teams that sit in that middle zone, they aren’t going to go down and aren’t going to go up, they are dangerous opponents.

“You fear the position they are in because they could be anything at the weekend. What I do know about Michael Duff (the Cheltenham manager) is that he was a top professional and he will want his team to be ready for us.

“Michael has done really well with the group, he came up with the momentum and the spirit, signed some good loan players, young Alfie May up top has been prolific this season.

“When I was at Cardiff City (as manager) during lockdown I spoke quite a lot to Michael and post lockdown we played games against Cheltenham behind closed doors.

“I got to know him relatively well, he is a good man, they have done well this season but the plaudits stop there. We just look at how we can affect them at the weekend.

“We are aware of their threats but also very aware of the threat my team can impose on the game and again nothing changes, we need to make sure we are the best we can be to affect the game.”

Harris was at Portsmouth on Tuesday night to see title-chasers Rotherham lose 3-0 to a team seemingly too far adrift of the play-off places to get involved. It again showed the unpredictability of the league.

The Gills manager is just trying to concentrate on his own team, who last Saturday came from behind to pick up a point against play-off chasing Wycombe. A fine second-half performance showed what they could do.

Harris said: “We go into the game with momentum because the mentality of the players on the training pitch has been ridiculous. It is like the first week of pre-season, the lads are in a great place but that is no guarantee for (a win) Friday or Monday.

“They are happy and we saw that with the second-half performance at the weekend. To come from behind against Wycombe, who had been too good for Cambridge on the Tuesday night (winning 4-1), again for me it was a statement of intent for where we see ourselves getting to between now and the end of the season.”