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After Rovers had two fixtures against Crewe Alexandra in League One postponed firstly due to rain and then for a second time due to fog, this will be Tranmere's first game in 2 weeks since a 1-1 draw with Brentford, and they will be hoping to make up the ground they have lost on the teams above them.
Gillingham team profile:
Formed: 1893
Ground: Priestfield Stadium
Manager: Ronnie Jepson
Nickname: The Gills
Season Finish 2005/06: 14th (Coca-Cola League One)
Past Meetings:
Last season, Rovers managed to draw both games with The Gills, as it finished 2-2 at Prenton Park in September and 1-1 at The Priestfield Stadium in February.
Rovers took the lead three times in total over the season against their southern opponents, but on each occassion were pulled back and managed to gain just a point in each game.
At Prenton Park, Mike Jackson and Chris Greenacre scored Tranmere's goals in the 10th and 46th minute, but Darren Byfield, now of Millwall, twice responded for Ronnie Jepson's side, scoring in the 16th and 63rd minutes.
Later on in the season on a cold February day, Tranmere fans had a brilliant time on the open air stand at Priestfield, although their side only managed a 1-1 draw.
On-loan Stephen O'Leary opened the scoring for Rovers with a brilliant finish into the roof of the net after chipping the ball over a Gillingham defender, but despite Dino Seremet's heroics in goal, Gillingham equalised, thanks to a late goal for Darren Byfield, his third of the season against Tranmere.
Vital Stats:
Gillingham have not won at Prenton Park in 13 previous attempts, with Rovers winning 7 games
In total, 14 out of 26 games between the two sides have ended all square
Tranmere have scored 21 goals in 13 games against The Gills
Rovers have only won one in seven games On December 23rd
Rovers have a 100% record over Gillingham in the month of December, beating their opponents 2-0 on December 17th 1976
The Form Book:
Tranmere last 6 home games: LWWWLD
Gillingham last 6 away games: LLLLDL
Things look bleek for Gillingham before their trip to Merseyside this weekend. Already with the knowledge that they haven't won at Prenton Park before, Gillingham travel to The Wirral with a record that shows they haven't won in eight away games.
In fact, Gillingham's away form has been so poor so far this season that they have only managed one win all season in 13 away league and cup games, with that coming at Doncaster Rovers on September 9th when they won 2-1.
In all, Ronnie Jepson's side have played 13, won one, drawn three and lost nine away games this season - a record which speaks for itself really.
Gillingham lost all of their opening three away games, losing 1-0 at Brighton, 4-2 at Bradford and then 2-1 in the Carling Cup at Millwall.
Some light relief came at Bloomfield Road on 26th August, when The Gills drew 1-1 with now high-flying Blackpool and then in their next away game they gained that 2-1 win at Belle Vue against Doncaster.
However, it's been all down hill from there on in for Ronnie Jepson's side. They have shipped four goals on three occassions, with Oldham Athletic (4-1), Crewe Alexandra (4-3) and Bristol City in the F.A. Cup (4-3) all gaining away wins.
Despite draws with struggling Leyton Orient (3-3) and another struggling side in Brentford (2-2), all their other three away games have ended in defeat.
Bristol City won at Ashton Gate in the league 3-1 whilst Yeovil beat The Gills 2-0 at Huish Park, two sides who have been flying high in League One this season.
Perhaps the worst result this season for Ronnie Jepson and his side was at Vale Park on Tuesday 5th December, when Vale beat Gillingham 2-0.
The result and performance were in fact so bad that Ronnie Jepson chased down the supporters coach at a service station and got on the coach to appologise to the fans.
Under Ronnie Moore, Tranmere have still only lost one home game out of ten, winning an impressive seven and drawing twice.
Port Vale are the only side to defeat Rovers at Prenton Park in the league this season, with The Valient's winning 2-1, also a Friday night match, despite Rovers rallying to come back to 2-1 from 2-0 behind.
Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest have both left with a point each, as Huddersfield came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and Forest got a 0-0 draw, but seven other teams have left Prenton Park empty handed.
Those teams to leae empty handed have been Oldham Athletic (1-0), Yeovil Town (2-1), Leyton Orient (3-0), Bristol City (1-0), Bournemouth (1-0), Blackpool (2-0) and Millwall (3-1), with Tranmere actually only conceeding six goals in ten home league games this season.
In the cup, Tranmere have not been so good, losing two out of three games at Prenton Park, one in the F.A. Cup and one in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
Darlington beat Tranmere 1-0 in the Second Round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, whilst Peterborough United defeated Tranmere 2-1 in their most recent home game in the F.A. Cup 2nd Round after Rovers had defeated Conference side Woking 4-2 in the first round.
Double Hit:
One player who has "represented" both Gillingham and Tranmere is striker Iffy Onuora.
I use the word "represented" lightly here, as Onoura played only three games for Tranmere, two from the subs bench and didn't even manage a home appearance, let alone a goal. However, in London Onoura is a bit of a legend.
Born in Glasgow, Onuora, who's real first name is Ifem, started off his career at Huddersfield where he scored 30 goals in 145 league appearances before moving on to Mansfield on a free-transfer in 1994.
In two years with The Stags, Onuora managed just 30 appearances in total, scoring 11 goals before moving on to Gillingham for £25,000, where has career began to rocket upwards.
Onuora played 62 league games for Gillingham, scoring an impressive 23 goals, along with three goals in 11 cup games.
Good form earned him a move to Swindon Town, whom he was later to manage, for £120,000 where he scored 25 more league goals in 74 league games before moving back to Priestfield for £100,000 in January 2000, just two years after leaving.
Onuora's second spell at Gillingham lasted the same amount as his first stint, just about one and a half years, as he scored 29 goals in 96 games for Gillingham before moving on to Sheffield United.
During his time in Yorkshire, Onuora had loan spells with Grimsby and Wycombe, and in total played 35 games and scored 2 goals whilst under contract at Brammall Lane.
This good form earned striker Onuora a move to Prenton Park under Brian Little, but after just three games and no goals Onuora moved on to Huddersfield Town, where he played the final five games of his career, scoring one goal.
One To Watch:
One player who has been attracting plenty of attention from both Championship and Premiership clubs at Gillingham is 20 year old winger Matt Jarvis.
Born up on Teeside in Middlesbrough, Jarvis profession for Gillingham in November 2003 and has since gone on to make 96 league appearances for the club, of which 31 have been from the bench, scoring 11 goals.
Along with those league appearances, Jarvis has made 12 cup appearances, scoring four goals - an impressive tally coming in from the wing.
Jarvis wears the number 21 shirt (and shorts) for Gillingham and his pace and trickery has caused a number of right-backs problems in League One this season.
So far this season, Jarvis has played an impressive 24 games, scoring an even more impessive five goals - nearly half of his career tally.
Team News:
Rovers once again have a nearly fully fit squad as they go into the Christmas period. Steve Jennings has recovered from injury meaning the only man missing out for Rovers is player/coach Jason McAteer.
Jones' Prediction: Tranmere 2-0 Gillingham