GILLINGHAM'S player-boss Andy Hessenthaler was a late recruit to league football and that might explain why he is still going strong with his 38th birthday approaching next year.

Tomorrow he will be battling for midfield supremacy against Paul Weller, who is ten years his younger but has been in the professional game for a similar length of time.

It was Steve Perryman who gave Hessenthaler his break when he was the manager at Watford, taking him from non-league football with Redbridge Forest.

He was a virtual ever present as he played five seasons with the Hornets before moving to Gillingham in the summer of 1996 after the club's promotion to Division Two.

The midfield battler has played a big part in the Kent club's rise to the first division, not least as the gaffer that managed to keep them up last season with a highly respectable top half finish.

Weller was picked out for praise by his manager Stan Ternent last weekend before the disappointing match with Rotherham when he failed to make his usual impact.

He will have to be on his game if he is to get the better of Hessenthaler and help the Clarets to a vital away win. He has recently played his 200th game for the club and is eager to play many more.