Gillingham will want to show they’ve made improvements since the last time they met Ipswich Town.

It’s been all-change at Gillingham following the 4-0 defeat at home against Ipswich at Priestfield on January 8 in a match that ended Steve Evans' time as manager. The Gills make the return trip to Ipswich's Portman Road on Saturday.

A month on from that thrashing and the Gills are now under a new manager and have renewed belief after a three-week search led to Neil Harris being appointed. He got off to a winning start on Tuesday, beating Crewe 1-0, but knows his team face a big task this weekend.

Harris said: “It is an enormous task and we want to be better than when we played Ipswich at home, we want to be better and we have to build on what we did on Tuesday, we need the players individually and collectively to perform.

“We can’t guarantee anything, we are playing a side who have had time to nail down what they want to do under their new manager (Kieran McKenna) and he is a good guy. They have had some good results, we are playing a team who arguably have the best squad in the league, a ridiculous budget for the division and a team that shouldn’t be in this division next year and whether they are or not we will have to see.”

Harris has finally had time to work on the training ground with his Gillingham team after joining just a day before they played Crewe in midweek.

He said: “I want to enjoy my job and I want my players to enjoy their jobs and embrace it, and they have, and the standards in training have been excellent. We had small glimpses on Tuesday of the quality we have got and how the players want to learn.

“I am not going to get a true reflection of the players until probably four games in, then I will get a real feeling of where we are at, and what the mid-term holds.

“Our season certainly isn’t going to be defined on Saturday at Ipswich. Every game seems important but certainly the next three will be really big for us.”

Harris had a year out before agreeing to take on the job at Gillingham. It’s been non-stop since Sunday night when he agreed to the challenge.

He had offers elsewhere following his exit from Cardiff City but Harris admitted he needed the break, having worked virtually non-stop since first getting into management at Millwall. There was speculation in December that he might have been appointed manager at Ipswich.

There was no confirmation of that from the man himself, but he said: “I know Ipswich very well and I know their players and their squad, it was a club I had been linked with, it is a great club, a club with huge resources at this level and I think Kieran will do a great job.”

During the gap-year Harris picked up some tips from all levels of the game and did a bit of coaching in non-league as well.

“I needed that time out,” he said. “I went to Cardiff from Millwall and didn’t have a chance to reboot, I wanted a break, I had offers for nice jobs when I left Cardiff but I said no.

“I moved around watching clubs at different levels from the Premier League down to League 1 and 2 and took some sessions at non-league level as well. I just wanted to see how other clubs worked, for my benefit, and also just to keep up that buzz of coaching and being around football.

“I wanted to get to see my children again, to spend time with them, and even in the summer I was content, I enjoyed watching the Euros but as soon as that finished I started missing it and was keen to go again and this was the right challenge and as for energy, I have bundles of it!” It’s a good job he does. The matches are coming thick and fast.

Harris has also been checking out the transfer market to see if there are any decent freebies available out of contract but admits it is slim pickings.

He said: “Not many players sign for clubs when they are out of contract in February. There is often a reason they are not playing, either an injury, given up, or various other reasons. We have had some discussions and it has to be the right player, the right character and the right price.”

One player who he has managed to acquire is Ben Thompson, the 26-year-old midfielder arriving from Millwall. He’s ready to go for the weekend after missing the registration deadline to be available for the midweek Crewe match.

“Bringing Ben in gives everyone a lift,” said the manager.

“It shows the standard of player we want to bring in, when possible, but he is also an infectious character as well and he has already been getting some stick from the lads on the training ground. It shows that there is a team spirit in the camp and it is up to me to bring a bit more out of them.

“I want the players to enjoy their job, and I want to see smiles on their faces, I certainly like personality on the training ground and around the stadium.”

There are a couple of players being assessed over injuries. Mustapha Carayol and Danny Lloyd both went off injured on Tuesday, with Harris adding: “At the moment it is a race against time for a couple.”