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"It's been like this all season. We have always been a certain amount of points away from the relegation zone and nothing has changed. The fact we have dropped a few places in the league has highlighted that a bit but we will keep fighting to get the wins we need to stay up.
"It's always tough with a squad the size of ours but the lads are in good spirit. We came close to getting a draw at Nottingham Forest and we will be going up to Carlisle looking to pull a result out of the hat.
"Dale is a competitor and a winner and I would have no worries about throwing him straight into the team. He's going to be in the squad and with the players we have missing in midfield, he's got a good chance of starting the game. He played a big part in getting Barnsley promoted from League One last season, so he knows what it's all about at this level.
"You can never stop a lad going out on international duty, but from my point of view I would like him with us. He (Crofts) deserves his rewards, it just happens to be a week when we are depleted on numbers."
The Gills are likely to hand debuts to Dale Tonge and Felix Bastians who were signed this week in the final stages of the loan window closing. Tonge is a 21-year old central midfielder from Barnsley while Bastians, who has already had loan spells at Northwich Victoria and Halifax Town this season, is an 18-year old German-born left-sided attacking midfielder from Nottingham Forest.
Experienced midfielder Nicky Southall will return to the Kent outfit's squad after missing the Nottingham Forest defeat last weekend due to contractual reasons, while another midfielder in Clint Easton is back in contention after recovering from a calf injury. French keeper Romain Larrieu will continue between the posts in the absence of injured Trinidad and Tobago international Kelvin Jack.
In worse squad news for the visitors though influential midfielder Andrew Crofts will be away on international duty for Wales in their match against San Marino at the Millennium Stadium. Meanwhile Matt Jarvis is out with a groin injury and skipper Michael Flynn is struggling to recover from a rib problem. Ex-Fulham defender Duncan Jupp is also sidelined with a groin injury.
In a late change the referee for tomorrow's match will now be 2006 FA Cup Final referee Mike Dean from Heswall on the Wirral instead of our old pal Lee Mason, and Dean will be assisted down the lines by Michael Oliver from Ashington in Northumberland and Barry Sygmuta from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. Meanwhile the fourth official will be Peter Quinn from Middlesbrough.