Gillingham’s super second half at Luton Town on Tuesday night will hopefully help their cause in the league this Saturday.

That’s the aim of boss Neil Harris, after watching his side give Premier League Luton a decent test in the Carabao Cup Second Round.

“It sets us back on a good pathway for Saturday,” said Harris, following the 3-2 defeat. “I felt happy, content and proud of the group.

“We beat Southampton (in the First Round) in front of a near sold-out stadium and we pushed Luton really close. It was a brilliant effort by the group and I have also been able to rotate the squad.”

The Gills are away to Grimsby Town in League 2 this weekend.

Harris made six changes to his side following last week’s 3-0 home defeat against Colchester United. He’s now got decisions to make after a terrific response in the cup.

He said: “We had won five games out of six, five from seven now, the lads who have played the majority have played well, so it has been hard to break into the group but I rotated the players.

“Everyone has pretty much played, barring Conor (Masterson) and Macauley (Bonne) from the start, but they did play against Luton in a B-team fixture last week, they got minutes and the lads that came in (on Tuesday) did really well.

“It’s great for me to have options in personnel and shape as well.

“I rotated players, with the utmost respect to the competition. I felt like I was bringing in good players, as well as taking senior players out. We changed shape (to wing-backs) and really enjoyed it and it’s something certainly to look at going into Saturday’s game. Everyone who came in did extremely well.”

Ethan Coleman is missing with a ban after his late red card against Colchester while George Lapslie and Dom Jefferies are out injured, joining strikers Oli Hawkins and Lewis Walker in the treatment room.

Defeat last week ended a run of four straight wins in the league, and Harris said: “We are in a strong position at the moment and after five wins, to have a bad 20 minutes like we did last Saturday, to bounce back with that performance is really strong by the group.”

Tuesday’s game at Luton was another good night out for the Gills fans in cup competitions under Harris. The manager’s pleased they are getting plenty of cheer - after a difficult period this time last year.

“What a mad 12 months they have had,” he said. “It is mad. We couldn’t win a league game, couldn’t score a goal, but we went to Brentford (in the Carabao Cup last season) and won and we almost took Wolves to 90 minutes, conceding a late goal.

“We should have beaten Leicester (in the FA Cup) at home, we beat Southampton at home and we’ve run Luton close, coupled with a takeover and only two or three teams in the EFL have got more points than us since January 1, so they have had a crazy nine months.

“I thought their support again was magnificent and just a special mention to Luton Town Football Club, what a great football club. The atmosphere was excellent and to see them where they are is brilliant for the pyramid system in English football."