It’s about winning not Wembley – Steve Cotterill

The City manager insists the only celebration would come if City win the competition at the national stadium in March, with Walsall or Preston North End lying in wait for the southern area final victors.

The away leg takes place at Priestfield tonight (7.30pm kick-off), with the return fixture in early February,

Cotterill said: “It’s not about getting to Wembley. That isn’t how I look at it. I wouldn’t celebrate getting to Wembley…the only time you celebrate is when you’ve won the final and you’re lifting the trophy.

“We will respect Gillingham. We know all about them, but they also know all about us. We’ll treat the game like the other two games against them.

“Hopefully we can carry on getting the scorelines that we’ve enjoyed there already this season.

“We have to be better than we were at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday. We’ve prepared properly, travelling down straight after the game on Saturday and it’s another competition we want to progress in.”

Kieran Agard (ankle) and Aaron Wilbraham (hip) were absent at Doncaster and will be assessed ahead of the game.