Gillingham manager Neil Harris is considering whether to shake up his team for the visit of Grimsby Town.

Harris has kept faith with the same team in recent weeks, with just one change to his starting eleven in the last five games. The Gills enjoyed three wins and a draw before Saturday’s defeat at Mansfield.

Grimsby’s midweek visit will be a chance to freshen things up, should Harris choose. Midfielder George Lapslie and forward Aiden O’Brien are pushing for a place in his starting line-up.

Harris is in no rush to pick his team, saying: “I have to see who recovers well and if it means waiting until Tuesday afternoon to decide the team I am happy to do that.

“Everyone wants to play, nobody wants to come out of the team and then watch their mates do well and keep their place, but that is what good squads do. At this stage of the season, in mid February, I have to make sure I have energy on the pitch.”

The Gills didn’t reach the levels they had done in previous games, as they lost to Mansfield, but Harris knows those same players have done well to turn things around after a woeful first half of the campaign.

New additions have helped bring on players who until the start of the year had struggled.

Harris said: “We were so poor first half of the season you feel like you are chasing all the time and any defeat is really disappointing and hurtful but looking at the other results it has not cost us too much.

“We have been to one of the hardest places to go in the division, one of the best teams in the division, one that can certainly get promoted this season and we have come up a little short, it is a little reminder for all of us, in particular myself and the players, that we need to keep getting better.

“We have picked up 10 points from five games which is fantastic return from where we have been.

“It is a great opportunity for fans to come and see and support us (against Grimsby). We had a great following (at Mansfield) and I thank them for going, it amazed me again when I walked out and there were so many in the away end.

“We have been fantastic at home in the last three games and we want to put Saturday’s result behind us and learn from it. It is important that I learn from it and the group learn from where we can improve and be better on Tuesday night.”

Grimsby were beaten on Saturday by a resurgent Colchester and sit 17th in the League 2 table, albeit with several games in hand after a terrific FA Cup run. They remain in the competition and will play Southampton in round five after beating Championship side Luton 3-0.

Looking at the opposition, Harris said: “Paul Hurst (the Grimsby manager) has done a great job over the last 18 months getting out of the league below and then stabilising in a difficult division in League 2.

“They got beat on Saturday, we may have to expect changes to his side as well, but when you play a Paul Hurst side it is always going to be competitive.”

Grimsby are likely to include former Gills loan striker Tom Dickson-Peters in their side, having signed the Norwich forward at the end of the January transfer window.

Dickson-Peters failed to score for the Gills in nine appearances last season during his first taste of the Football League. He recently got off the mark in the EFL with Grimsby’s third goal in a 3-0 win over Crewe at the start of February.