A look ahead to Wolves v Gillingham

There has been a lot of activity since the last match (1 – 1 against Sunderland) that has affected the Wolves. There has been rumours, injury comebacks, fresh injuries, bad news and good news – The Lot!
Amid all of this, Wolves are expected to beat Gillingham here and there is no denying it. Wolves’ form has grown under Hoddle, and morale has grown among players and supporters alike. Wolves still have only lost three times in the League at Home this season in 16 games and are not looking too bad as of late.
If you look deeper into this game, it could just be a shock waiting to happen… Wolves have a major loss in midfield, the influential in-form skipper Paul Ince is suspended for the game, which means Wolves will have to go to Vice-Captain Mark Kennedy for inspiration – unless he is out as well.
Kennedy is facing a late fitness test to prove himself ahead of this match, if he is out, Hoddle will have to decide who takes over as skipper for this game. If both of these players miss the game, Wolves will have a large hole to fill in midfield. They have capable players to come in with Andrews and Cooper at the ready, but they will miss the extra defensive work Ince and Kennedy bring to the Wolves side.

The motivation factor for the Wanderers is high – if they win, they move nine points behind the play off places. Hoddle still thinks they can get there much like many others around the club. Hoddle stated, “We have lost only one match in the league - away at Wigan when we were probably expected to lose anyway. We might be 12 points off the top six but if we win our game in hand we will be a point better off than we were before Saturday. That means it wasn't a bad weekend for us and we didn't play. I am sure we can achieve it and there is still time for us to go on a run.”

Other news for the Wolves has included the expected return of Vio Ganea. Ganea explained his ambition was to play in the Premiership next season, and his job was to help Wolves get there, “I have got another year on my contract and I want to try and spend that playing in the Premiership. Hopefully I will be able to start playing again next month and I'm looking forward to getting back. Then my job is to score some goals for the team to try and achieve that.” Ganea’s return is welcome news for Wolves fans that are looking forward to seeing the tireless forward back in the squad. Seol’s future was also questioned in the break in fixtures, the clubs supposedly interested were the likes of Charlton and Birmingham, but Hoddle was quick to put fans minds at rest.

Gillingham are still in the relegation zone and don’t look to be getting out of it anytime soon. There form isn’t good, they haven’t been putting in good performances and this has coincided with the change in manager. Gillingham haven’t performed away from home this season, which makes it even more unlikely for them to get a result at the Molineux. Gillingham’s problems have stemmed from the back as they have conceded 51 goals already this season, from only 32 matches! Gillingham got a result earlier in the season, they beat Wolves 1 – 0, a shock to most, and the only question is can they repeat the feat in Wolves’ back yard. The Head-2-Head record doesn’t favour Gillingham either, being on the wrong end of a few heavy scorelines.

If Gillingham win they could jump ahead of Coventry, and are only two points from safety… If Wolves win they could jump four places up the table to 13^th.

Prediction: 2 – 0