Our focus will be on Sunday against Brighton, says Gills coach Jack Wheeler

GILLINGHAM assistant manager Jack Wheeler says his side are focusing on their next game – away to bitter rivals Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday – before they can talk about winning a deserved treble.

The Gills have completed a cup double this season, comfortably beating Charlton Athletic’s reserve side (3-0) and Haverhill Rovers (5-0) to win the Kent Women’s Cup and Ryman Women’s Cup respectively.

Gillingham travel to the Withdean Stadium on Sunday to play their penultimate league game of the season, sitting proudly at the summit of The FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division table with 41 points from eighteen games.

The Kent club are four points clear of Coventry City, who come to Chatham Town on 18 May, although the Midlands club still have got to play three more league games, with a trip to fourth-placed Portsmouth being their last outing on 25 May.

Gillingham should claim the league title if they win their last two league games, something that James Marrs’ side deserve with their eye-catching passing brand of football.

Wheeler is playing down their potential title decider against Coventry City, focusing on their trip to Brighton & Hove Albion first.

“We’ve got 90 minutes to go yet because we’ve got to play Brighton,” he said.

“I’m not interested in the last game of the season.  It’s (the treble) is definitely on the cards. We’re in there but it’s for us to lose.

“We’re not interested in winning…. We are interested in winning the league because that will tell us a lie because that’s something that the girls want to strive towards but we focus on Brighton. 

“If we lose against Brighton we’ll be completely out of the running so we need to make sure we focus in the right way to make sure we get the right performance. 

“I’m not interested in the results, the results will come if you perform well and that’s what we’ve said to the girls all season so if you perform well and apply yourselves the right way then the results will come as a bonus.

“Our focus will be on Sunday, not about who else is playing and what other fixtures are going on.

“I want the girls to go out there and give me 110% and they come off and you’ve given me absolutely everything in the tank and if Brighton are the better team, they get the three points.

“We’ll have a discussion before the game against Coventry if we’re still in with a shout - and that’s if we’re still in with a shout.”

Wheeler said last night that the club’s aspirations this season were to retain both the Kent Women’s Cup and Ryman Women’s Cup, which they did.

“We’re not projecting that we’re going to win the league because that’s not one of our goals,” said Wheeler, who was given the opportunity to run the side against Haverhill Rovers last night. 

“It wasn’t one of the goals that we looked at so we’re making sure that the girls are following it that way and if we win it in the next two performances and the next two 90 minutes or 180 minutes and we perform really well then we’ve got the bonus of winning the league. 

“I’m sure I’ll be quite happy to drink a bit of champagne at the end of it.”

Visit Gillingham Ladies’ website: http://glfc2013.wordpress.com

Brighton & Hove Albion  v  Gillingham
The FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division
Sunday 11^th May 2014
Kick Off 2:00pm
At Withdean Stadium, Tongdean Lane, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 5JD